Cockamamie
by a-whisper-to-a-riot
Summary: Izaya meets an interesting girl, what if she's just as crazy as he is - or even crazier? Izaya/OC
1. Torturing Ducks

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter One: Torturing Ducks**_

* * *

><p>The swing sets were specifically for children aged from six to twelve, there was a sign that stated so. Though having a sign did not stop the faired hair girl from loitering on a swing while kids waited in line grumpily. Her chocolate eyes scanned the playground as she gripped the chains from the swing. The children behind her began to groan and frown – not that it bothered her. There was something undeniably charming about the girl, from her irregular knee socks, and her very questionable outfit to her long unkempt golden hair. Then that was when she noticed a lone man sitting on a bench at the far side of the playground.<p>

"Excuse me! What do you think you're doing?"

Her chin titled slightly towards the voice but she kept her eyes on the man she's been staring at.

"My daughter has been waiting for ten minutes already!"

"So?"

The whisper came out faintly as the man eyed her from afar.

"This playground is for children! And I don't believe you're a child, so please leave."

"Hm?"

She finally broke eye contact with the man and turned to face the angry woman. The woman was in her late thirties, probably didn't work, and by the look of her outfit, very wealthy.

"Are you deaf?" the woman jibed.

"Nope," the girl let out a blissful smile. "At least I don't think I'm deaf… For all I know I can be imagining everything I'm hearing."

"W-what?" the woman frowned. "Are you mocking me?"

"Not at all," the girl shook her head.

"Then if you're not deaf can you please get off the swing so children can actually get a go?" the woman perked a hand on her hip. "You know, the children who the playground was made for?"

"What if I don't want to go?" she smiled again.

"And why not?" the woman said through gritted teeth. "My daughter has been waiting for the last-."

"Children are annoying," the girl looked away with a sigh. "Loud, annoying, callow little beings. Sometimes I think the world's better off without children."

The woman paused. She glanced at the younger girl uncertainly. At first she thought she could simply ask her to leave, but now she turns out to be some kind of freak. The girl then snapped her head back up at her, those infuriating beady eyes challenged for a response. For a second she was actually afraid of those angelic features.

"Kyoko! Let's go!"

"But I haven't had a turn on the swings yet!"

"Forget the swings!"

With that, the woman dragged her child away from the playground. The girl stared after them nonchalantly.

'_That's what I thought.'_

At that moment she remembered the stranger, her eyes darted back over at the bench but he was gone – to her dismay. She lifted herself off the swing and decided that the playground has lost its charm and she's pissed off enough people for the day. The only logical thing to do now was to head home, but instead she headed to the bakery.

**XoXo**

She returned to the park after buying a bag of bread. Her dainty fingers grasped the bag firmly as she capered over to the pond. A flock of ducks swam over to the edge of the water when she approached. The ducks quacked out excitedly as they waited for the food. She grinned a little as she dropped a small bit of crumbs into the water – the ducks went crazy trying to reach the food. She dropped another bit of crumbs, and watched as the ducks began to squabble amongst each other.

"Like torturing ducks do you?"

The voice came from next to her – she hadn't even noticed that someone had walked up to her! It was the man from earlier at the playground. He had the same smile plastered on his face.

"I'm not torturing them," she retorted. "There's a difference between torturing and feeding slowly."

"Whatever you say…" he chuckled.

She gave him an uneasy side-glance but went on with her 'slow feeding', with the ducks fighting for the crumbs after each throw. Through this whole time, the man hadn't moved an inch but watched the ducks with her.

"I'm Orihara Izaya," he finally spoke.

"Nakata Rei," she stuffed a piece of bread in her mouth.

"Rei-chan, who are you really?" Izaya peered over at her.

She glanced at him again.

"I wonder that myself sometimes," she mumbled.

Rei turned on her heels and began walking away. Izaya smiled and turned back to face the dissatisfied ducks, but before he could think, something landed in the water with a splash. The object eventually began to float back up to the surface – it was the bag of bread. The ducks swam about the bag, clearly overjoyed. He turned around abruptly and watched as she just disappeared around a corner.

'_Nakata Rei… interesting.'_


	2. Crazy Things

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Two: Crazy Things**_

* * *

><p>Rei hated the subway – it was always too loud and crowded, not to mention the shaking of the train made her feel sick. She stared at her shoes blankly as the train continued to run, then without warning a pair of trainers stomped on her toes. Rei's eyes shot up and stared at the boy accusingly, he seemed to realize his mistake immediately and pulled his foot off of hers. He bowed down to the best of his abilities in the crowded train, he apologized numerous of times and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.<p>

"What size feet are you?" Rei studied his appearance. "Mikado?"

"H-how did you-."

She pointed at his chest wordlessly, he looked down himself and saw his name etched into his bag's strap. He looked back at her embarrassedly.

"I-, n-nine," he stammered.

"Huh…" she nodded.

Rei looked back at her feet, the large trainers had left marks on her white flats. Without another thought, Rei pulled the shoes off her feet and handed them to Mikado. He took them uneasily and looked at her for an explanation. Rei glanced back at her feet quickly before looking up.

"Never liked wearing shoes anyway," she shrugged. "This is my stop, goodbye Mikado."

Before Mikado can say anything she stood up and walked out of the train. He watched her through the window then averted his gaze down to the shoes in his bands. Mikado let out a boyish grin – he could already tell he was going to like this city.

* * *

><p>Nakata Shouichi frowned when he heard the front door slam. He stood up and walked out to the corridor.<p>

"A bit late no?" Souichi crossed his arms.

"It's only ten," Rei mumbled back.

"Where are your shoes?" Souichi noticed she only wore her socks.

Rei shrugged and walked past him to the staircase. Souichi groaned and followed after her – their father left him in charge at home while he was working overseas, but it's not very easy with a younger sister like Rei.

"Rei…" Souichi called. "What happened? Where were you?"

"Out at the park, I was feeding ducks," Rei yanked her socks off. "Someone stepped on my foot."

"So you got rid of your shoes?" Souichi asked in a questioning tone.

"Why not?" she stared at him, waiting for an answer, and when none came she just sighed and turned away. "… I'm going to bed."

"Get some rest okay? You've got an appointment tomorrow morning," he reminded her.

He left Rei in her room and walked back downstairs. She discarded her cardigan and went straight to bed. The last thing she wanted was to speak with her brother right now. The cold sheets soothed her bruised feet. She clamped her hands over her eyes and stayed that way for the next few minutes. Her thoughts raced wildly, her brother must have been worried about her, and then there was Mikado from the train – he seemed nice enough, probably new in the city, and of course there was Orihara Izaya.

"_Who are you really?"_

A smile appeared on Rei's lips, but the innocent smile soon turned into an abrupt laughter. Rei grasped her stomach in pain from laughing so uncontrollably – all the while, still laughing.

"Who am I?" she yelled in between hysteric laughs. "Just who am I?"

X

Downstairs, Souichi began with his work again. Just as he picked his pen up he heard Rei shouting upstairs. He dropped everything and bolted up the stairs, as he got closer to her bedroom he could hear her laughing wildly.

"Rei?" he called frantically. "Rei? Rei!"

He kicked the door open wide immediately but a strange sight greeted him – the lights were off and Rei was sleeping under her in her bed. Souichi rubbed the back of his head confusedly – he could have sworn he heard Rei yelling just a few moments ago. He leaned in and surveyed the room unsurely.

"What?" Rei lifted her head up at the shadow by the door.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" he asked.

"Yeah," she stifled a yawn.

"So that wasn't you shouting just now?"

"Nope," Rei slumped back down into her covers. "I think you're imagining things, aniki."

"Goodnight then Rei."

"Hm…" she hummed back.

After the door was closed Rei sat back up and turned to her window – it was a full moon tonight. She never liked the moon either, something about it following her made her feel uneasy. After a few lingering looks out her window, Rei finally lied back down.

* * *

><p>"<em>Why is that, Rei?"<em>

"Huh?"

The voice pulled Rei back into reality. She remembered she was sat in the familiar armchair in Dr. Hayashi's office. The doctor shook his head with a sigh and scribbled down a couple of words.

"Rei, can you tell me why you're not wearing shoes today?" Hayashi repeated the question.

"… I don't like shoes anymore."

"Why not?"

"I just don't," Rei crossed her arms, finalizing her argument.

"But your feet would get cuts if you don't wear shoes, Rei."

"Let them," she shrugged.

"On a side note, your brother told me you've decided to go back to school again," Hayashi changed topics. "That's good news, it's been quite a while since you left."

"Things have gotten boring at home…" Rei played with a strand of her hair. "Sometimes I wish things would just happen."

"What kind of things?"

"Crazy things," a grin appeared on her face. "Crazy, crazy things."

Right as those words left her lips, the alarm went off. Rei glanced at the clock then back at Hayashi.

"Well I'm glad things seem to be going better for you," he smiled back her, ignoring her last statement. "I'll schedule you for another appointment in a few weeks time. Goodbye, and take care."

X

Rei couldn't believe her luck, who'd guess she'd be able to see the infamous Heiwajima on her way home? She immediately knew it was him by the sound of the large crash and flying vending machine. While others ran away from the commotion, Rei ran towards it in excitement. After clearing through the crowd, Rei ran into a practically empty street, aside of Heiwajima and… Orihara Izaya?

"Izaya!" Heiwajima's voice thundered down the street. "How many times do I have to tell you to stay the hell away from Ikebukuro?"

"Aw Shizu-chan, no need to get so touchy," Izaya waved his hand calmly with a smile. "After all I'm only here to see someone… and look there she is!"

Izaya pointed over at Rei, and Heiwajima turned to see who it was. As soon as the blonde man was looking away, Izaya slashed him in the chest with a pocketknife and ran for it. Rei's eyes widened slightly as Izaya ran towards her.

"Come Rei-chan!" Izaya grabbed her hand and let out an exuberant laugh as they ran from the raging man.

"Izaya!" a deafening shout called after them.

Rei peeked over her shoulder and saw Heiwajima running after them – armed with a lamppost, she then turned her attention back to Izaya who was still leading her through the city. Their eyes caught momentarily and Izaya gave her an animated grin.

Eventually they managed to lose Heiwajima in a crowded area of the city. Rei took deep breaths in attempt to stabilize her breathing. Izaya chuckled as he scanned the crowd for any sign of Shizuo.

"That was fun wasn't it, Rei-chan?" he asked with a glance in her direction.

All Rei could do was nod, she could scarcely believe that she had just encountered a fight with _the_ Heiwajima Shizuo and gotten away unharmed. She looked back up at Izaya and wondered – just who exactly is this man?

"So… what now?"

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks to Echo Bancroft &amp; Mystical Blue Fire for alerting this story :) And extra thanks to Wolffangsheart for alerting and reviewing!<strong>


	3. Take Mine

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Three: Take Mine**_

* * *

><p>"Do you do that often?" Rei asked.<p>

Rei was struggling to follow after Izaya, who was navigating through the large crowd with ease.

"Do what?" Izaya stopped and turned to face her.

"Get chased by scary men with lampposts?"

"Scary?" Izaya laughed. "Shizu-chan is hardly scary! Annoying maybe, but nowhere near scary! But enough about him! Let's go eat sushi, I'll treat you!"

Izaya turned on his heels and began weaving through the crowd once again. Rei followed him with great difficulty. Not only did her feet ache from running, she was also rather small in comparison to an average girl her age, which made it harder for her to keep track of Izaya in the crowd.

Rei hissed in pain when she felt someone step on her foot. She was really beginning to hate herself for giving away her shoes and this crowd wasn't helping either, every single time she catches up with Izaya someone steps in her way. When Rei finally caught up with Izaya again, she reached her hand out and grasped the back of his hoodie.

"Where are we going anyway?" Rei asked.

"Russian sushi," Izaya tilted his head back at her. "We're not far."

"Russian sushi?" Rei repeated.

"Yup," Izaya grinned. "Ah! Here we are!"

Rei let go of Izaya's hoodie and watched him walk into the store uncertainly. It wasn't the store as much as the man that made her uneasy. But Rei was not about to run away from the mysterious stranger. She followed after Izaya into the store. The two were greeted by a large foreign man, he smiled at them both and showed them to their table.

"Konichiwa Izaya! Nice to see you," the man greeted. "Who is this?"

"This is Rei-chan," Izaya introduced. "Rei-chan, this is Simon."

"Hello," she waved back.

"We'll have the usual," Izaya ordered.

"Understood," Simon nodded with a smile.

With that said, Simon walked to the kitchens. Rei noticed the store was pretty much empty apart from Izaya and herself. Rei subconsciously picked up her chopsticks and began to fiddle with them. Izaya watched her the whole time silently with a smile on his face.

"Izaya-kun," Rei snapped her attention to him. "Who are you?"

"I'm an informant," he leaned in closer. "But the real question is: Who are you Rei-chan?"

"Why do you keep asking that?" Rei frowned slightly. "My name is Nakata Rei, I'm 16."

"No, no, forget the formalities," Izaya shook his hand indifferently. "I already know about your history and family. What I really want to know is what makes you tick."

"Why?" she asked, her tone almost accusing.

"You interest me," Izaya rested his chin on his hand. "It's not everyday you meet a girl that runs towards trouble while others run away."

"… Does that mean we're friends?" Rei watched him cautiously.

This caught him by surprise.

"Sure," Izaya nodded. "We're friends."

"I see…" A little grin crept onto her face.

"What's so funny, Rei-chan?" Izaya asked.

"Nothing it's just… I made a friend," she shook her head.

Izaya stared at her incredulously. He smiled – this girl was just full of surprises. At that point, Simon returned with two plates of sushi. He placed each plate in front of the two. Rei stared at her plate for a bit before picking up her chopsticks and reached for her food.

"How do you like it?" Izaya asked.

"It's nice," Rei nodded back curtly.

Izaya eyes trailed down to her plate… it was empty. He looked back up at her smugly. Rei looked up at Izaya then at his plate, back up at him and at his plate again.

"Are you going to eat that?"

"No, go ahead," Izaya pushed his plate towards her.

Rei immediately picked up her chopsticks and began eating the sushi. Truth be told, Rei normally ate very little but something about this sushi made her go crazy. Izaya watched her scarf down the sushi at amazing speed.

"You hungry, Rei-chan?" he propped his chin on his hand once again.

"Not really," she replied. "This is good sushi."

"Glad you like it," he chuckled. "By the way Rei-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Why aren't you in school?" Izaya queried.

"Well… a few weeks ago I was sitting in class," Rei started. "I looked out the window and saw people getting on with their lives. I realized then that school was a waste of time, so I quit."

"But you're going back soon," Izaya stated.

"How did you-."

"Oh I have my ways, Rei-chan," he grinned again.

Rei watched him carefully – how in the world did he know she was going back to school? Apart from her brother, she only just told Hayashi earlier today… could it be? Did Izaya find out from Hayashi?

'_So much for confidential.'_

Izaya's phone chimed and he immediately flipped it open.

"Ah Rei-chan, sorry but we'll have to cut this meeting short," Izaya said as he flipped his phone shut. "I have some errands I need to run."

"Um sure," she stood up after him.

Rei waved back at Simon before leaving the store, in which he waved back with a smile.

"Well this has been interesting," Izaya turned to her.

"Yeah…" she mumbled back.

"Oh by the way…" Izaya reached for his shoes and pulled them off. "Here, you're feet look painful."

Rei stared at the pair of shoes offered at her, they were obviously a few sizes too big for her. But nonetheless she accepted them with a nod.

"Thanks," her lips twitched slightly upwards.

Rei slipped the shoes on and tied the laces the tightest they'll go.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Rei-chan!" Izaya smiled.

"Bye."

X

That night Souichi returned home to find his little sister sitting in the living room staring at a pair of men's shoes. Rei had her arms wrapped around her legs tightly and kept her eyes glued on the shoes. Souichi walked over and sat next to her, he noticed her feet were bruised and cut up.

"How was your day?" he asked.

"Decent," she whispered back. "I decided that I liked shoes again."

"Oh? Why the sudden change of heart?" he smiled slightly.

This was new – whenever Rei stopped 'liking' something, it'd normally take a few weeks for her to start 'liking' it again. Maybe the counselor was finally working. Well whatever the reason was, Souichi was glad Rei will start wearing shoes again.

"I met a man."

Souichi's smile dropped immediately.

"Oh? What's he like?" he asked.

"Weird," she replied. "He's different from others…"

"What's his name?"

"Orihara… Izaya," she finished with a disturbing grin.

* * *

><p><strong>Well that was Chapter 3... Kinda crappy and short, sorry! But I hope you enjoyed it! I can't believe I got 4 reviews for chapter 2! I was so happy! :)<strong>

**Special thanks to:**

**Aoi Heart - Thanks for alerting and adding this story to your favorites! I also never got the chance to thank you for favorite-ing my Gintama oneshot! :)**

**vivvy09 - thanks for the fav! :)**

**DribbleDrabble4ever - thanks for the alert, favorite and review! :) I loved your review so so much! 3 Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Bree Renee - thanks for the alert and review! :) Haha thanks! Yeah, Rei is by far my most interesting OC! **

**Jasdeviishawsome - thanks for the alert and review! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)**


	4. Strangling Teen Idols

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Four: Strangling Teen Idols**_

* * *

><p>Rei stared ahead blankly as her classmates flooded into the room. She could make out a few whispers about her sudden reappearance – though little things such as this didn't bother her.<p>

"And that was when-… Rei-chan?"

Kida ran up to her table and lifted her dainty hands to his chest.

"Oh I've missed you so much, Rei-chan!" Kida preached.

Rei took her hands back and smiled sheepishly. That was when she noticed the boy standing awkwardly behind Kida.

"H-hello," Mikado greeted with a shaky wave.

"Can I have my shoes back?" Rei asked bluntly.

"W-what?" Mikado stumbled slightly.

"Shoes? How do you two know each other?" Kida questioned.

"W-well… one my way to the city… I kinda met uh- what's your name?"

"Nakata Rei."

"Right, and I met Nakata-san on the train…" Mikado finished. "And she sort of gave me her shoes."

"And now I want them back," Rei reminded.

"O-okay, I'll bring them in tomorrow," Mikado nodded.

"Shall I bring you something too?" Kida waved his hands dramatically. "What about I bring you out on a lovely date?"

"I'm quite alright with just my shoes," Rei replied with a passive smile. "Thanks for the offer though, Kida-kun."

"Aw… maybe next time then," Kida twitched a smile.

"I should get back to my class now… It was nice seeing you again uh- Nakata-san," Mikado bowed his head down slightly before rushing out of the room.

"Sadly, I too must leave you!" Kida sighed. "I shall speak with you soon!"

With that Kida rushed off to the front of the room to go speak to some other boys. Rei gazed over at their direction but turned back to face the window – being back in school seemed so surreal. For the past few weeks, Rei would wake up whenever she liked and go wherever she liked during the day. This made her question the rules and why she should follow them at all.

"Nakata-san?"

"Hm?" Rei averted her gaze to the front of the classroom. The teacher was now stood in front of class and everyone were in their seats. "Yes?"

"I was just saying it's good to see you again Nakata-san," Matsuo-sensei replied with a smile.

"Oh," Rei nodded. "Yeah."

"Anyways, today we'll be beginning a paired project," Matsuo went on. "The class will be paired off and each pair would receive a topic to work on. The pairs and topics were chosen randomly, so no one can complain!"

Many of the students groaned and slumped down into their seats. Rei remained nonchalant as she waited for her name to be called.

"Nakata Rei… with Kamichika Rio."

Rei looked up at the teacher then scanned the room for the girl. Kamichika Rio stood up with a deadpan look on her face. Rei followed after her and reached the teachers lecture podium. The two girls stared at the white cardboard box on the podium but neither made a move to reach into it.

"Come on Nakata-san," Matsuo spoke up. "Why don't you pick the topic?"

Rei reached her hand into the box and grasped onto a slip of paper. She pulled it out and carefully unfolded it. Rio looked over Rei's shoulder and paused rigidly. Rei found herself smiling at the piece of paper, there scribbled on with messy handwriting was the word 'death'. Rei handed the piece of paper over to her partner and walked back to her seat.

After a few last students were called up to pick their topics, all the pairs were asked to sit next to each other to discuss the project. Rio and Rei sat next to each other wordlessly as time ticked by. Rio was writing down her own ideas for the project where as Rei sat staring ahead blankly.

XoXo

After lunch most of the groups had already chosen what they're going to do and how they're going to present it. But it's not so much the same with Rei and Rio. Rio had come up with some good ideas but was reluctant to speak with her partner. Rei on the other hand, began doodling furiously around an hour ago.

"Okay class, you may begin to pack up," Matsuo notified the class. "Your presentations are due on Wednesday, so you'll all get an extra day to work on it."

Rio stared at her partner uneasily – she desperately wanted Rei to say something, anything! Rei felt the other girl's eyes boring into the back of her head and sat up to face her.

"Do you want to work on the project after school?" Rei asked.

"Uh- yeah," Rio nodded back thankfully. "Your house?"

"Sure."

And thus, the awkward pair walked out of school and into the city.

* * *

><p>The two girls walked down the busy streets of Ikebukuro. A crowd caught Rei's attention as she walked by, and she made her way over latently. There was a girl slightly older than Rei and her band performing. There was a sign that read, 'The most talented upcoming idol'. Rio joined Rei and stood by her awkwardly watching the performance.<p>

"Thank you!" the girl breathed heavily. "My name is Yuki Ono! Please tell your friends and family about me!"

Yuki around handing out copies of her CD, and soon she reached Rei and handed her a copy.

"I don't want it," Rei attempted to hand it back.

"Take it please!" Yuki stood a few good inches taller than Rei and seemed to tower over the shorter girl.

Rei frowned and turned on her heels. Yuki watched the girl walk off with a triumphal smile, but the smile quickly turned around as Rei proceed to throw the disc over her shoulder. Yuki watched in horror as the disc got smashed up as people trod over it. Without thinking the older girl ran after Rei furiously, she grabbed Rei by the shoulder and yanked her back.

"What's your problem?" Yuki demanded.

Rei shrugged back heedlessly. Yuki bit her bottom lip infuriatedly and slapped the younger girl hard in the face. Rei gripped her reddened cheek and glared at Yuki. Before anyone can move, Rei lunged at the older girl and wrapped her hands around Yuki's neck. Rei stuck her thumbs down the crook of Yuki's neck imprudently and watched Yuki's expressions change rapidly from shock to fear. Rio watched in horror as one of the band members tore Rei off Yuki. Rei grunted and kicked as Yuki coughed vigorously in attempt to regain her breath.

"You little bitch!" Yuki panted.

Rei began laughing deliriously as Yuki carried on yelling profanities. The police arrived at that point and arrested the two girls. Rio ran as fast as she can – she's seen enough of Nakata Rei to last a lifetime.

* * *

><p>Shouichi grumbled slightly as the phone began ringing, he reached over sluggishly and mumbled a greeting into the receiver.<p>

"This is Nakata Souichi correct?" a gruff voice asked.

"Yes, who is this?" Souichi sat up a little.

"This is Suzuki from the Ikebukuro police station," the voice replied. "We currently have your sister, Nakata Rei, in custody and I'm afraid you're going to have to come down here to bail her-."

"I'm on my way," Souichi declared right away.

Souichi got into his loafers and ran to the garage. He started the engine and immediately rolled out onto the road. Little did he know that it was rush hour at the moment.

* * *

><p>If Rei ever saw Yuki again, she'll break her nose without thinking twice. Yuki was released minutes ago, after having her story confirmed by witnesses. They had called her brother, so it shouldn't be long before he got here. The door swung open abruptly – that was fast. She looked up and behind the iron bars was none other than Orihara Izaya. The door was unlocked and pushed open by the officer.<p>

"I came to get you, Rei-chan!" Izaya chuckled.

Right as those words came out of his mouth, he was shoved into the cell. The iron door slammed shut behind them.

"Not."

Rei stared at Izaya candidly and smiled slightly.

"What are you in here for?" Rei asked, her eyes twinkled in curiosity.

"I was arrested for disturbing the peace," Izaya shrugged with a wide grin. "I smashed a girl's cellphone to bits. You?"

"I almost strangled an idol to death," Rei disregarded with a smile.

"Nice."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, I hope that wasn't too freaky :P A slightly longer chapter because I was super happy about all the favs and alerts 3 I want to thank my friend Maggie for helping me come up with ideas for this chapter! :) Reviews help with the writing process so please review!<strong>

**Special thanks to:**

**Bree Renee - Oh my goodness! Thank you so much! That means a lot to me! Thank you so, so, sooo much :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter too! :)**

**Polar8Bear - Thank you! I'm glad you like her! It's so much work writing a weirdo :P Hope you liked the chapter! :)**

**TykiPyon - Teheh! Thank you so much! I hope you liked this chapter - sorry it did take me quite a while :P**

**And thanks to all the others that alerted and faved! It means so much to me! Happy reading and please review! It doesn't take a long and it'll help me write faster! :)**


	5. Your Everything

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Five: Your Everything**_

* * *

><p>Souichi glanced at his watch impatiently then back up at the immense traffic. It's been close to twenty minutes since he's left the house, but by the looks of things he wouldn't get there for another half an hour or so. The thought of his little sister sitting in a holding cell (just waiting for him) made him feel even worse.<p>

'_I'm coming Rei… just wait for me.'_

* * *

><p>Rei sat crossed leg as she listened to the police chattering from the other room. By the sound of things there was another Slasher incident that took place not far from the station. She turned her attention back to the man that was in the same cell as her. Izaya was watching her with a peculiar smile.<p>

"So tell me Rei-chan, how was your first day back in school?" Izaya asked.

"We were assigned paired project," Rei replied nonchalantly.

"Project on your first day back? That's tough," Izaya chuckled. "Who's your partner?"

"A girl named Rio, I doubt you know her though," Rei shrugged back.

"Ah! Magenta-san!" Izaya broke into a grin.

"Who?"

"Kamichika Rio right?" Rei nodded. "I chatted with her a few times online before."

Rei was just about to say something but before she could the door swung open.

"Nakata Rei?"

The two turned to see a police officer standing outside the cell tapping the bars with his baton.

"Yes?" Rei stood up from where she sat.

"Your brother is-."

At that moment Souichi walked into the room and pushed past the officer. Rei spent a few seconds taking in his brother's appearance – he was wearing his pajamas and slippers.

"Sir you're not supposed to be here until you pay the-."

Souichi threw a wad of notes over his shoulder and grasped the bars of the cell.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "What happened? I was so worried when I got the phone call. They didn't hurt you right?"

"I'm fine," Rei nodded.

"Can you please get someone to open this damn door?" Souichi yelled at the officer counting the notes behind him.

"Oh y-yes sir," he straightened up and left the room.

Souichi was about to ask another question but then he noticed the presence of the man sitting in the same cell as Rei.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"Oh, that's Izaya-kun," Rei glanced at the man.

"Izaya-_kun_?" Souichi repeated, staring at the man. "He looks about my age."

"Yeah well he's different," Rei claimed.

The officer returned with a set of keys and unlocked the barred door. Immediately, Souichi grabbed his sister and tugged her out of the cell. Rei glanced back at the man in the cell before being pulled out of the room.

"Bye Izaya-kun."

"Bye, bye, Rei-chan."

XoXo

The car ride back home was strangely silent. Rei stared ahead out the window as Souichi drove on.

"So why exactly were you arrested?" Souichi finally spoke.

"I got into a fight," Rei mumbled.

"Why? Who with?" he asked.

"Just some girl on the street," Rei rolled her window down.

"What happened?" Souichi asked, glancing to her then back to the road. "Did she bother you?"

"Not really," Rei rolled her window back up again. "I wasn't really mad at her or anything, but then she hit me… and I just kinda really wanted to kill her, you know?"

"Rei…" he shook his head with a sigh.

"She hit me first," she yawned.

"Tired?" Rei nodded in reply. "Dad called earlier today."

"What did he want?"

"Not much, he was just checking up on us," Souichi turned into the driveway. "He said if the next business deal comes out successful then he'll be able to come home soon."

"What does it matter anyway?" Rei whispered. "He'll just leave again eventually."

Souichi turned to face Rei with a glum look. She just stared back at him indifferently.

"You want to tell me about Izaya?" he turned away as he drove into the garage.

"No."

The car came to a halt inside the garage, and Rei immediately got out of the car and headed inside. Souichi turned the ignition off and followed after his sister wordlessly. By the time he was inside, he could hear Rei's footsteps upstairs.

"Rei?" he called from outside her door.

"Hm?"

"Get some rest okay? You still have school tomorrow," he placed a hand on her door. "How was school today, by the way?"

"Uneventful."

"Well okay then, goodnight."

"Bye."

Rei tore off her uniform and changed into her pajamas straight away. As much as she hated to admit it – she was tired. Now that she was finally curled up in bed, Rei had some time to think. There was Rio and the project – they didn't even get to her house to begin the project… it's going to be a tough few days to prepare a presentation. Then there was Yuki.

'_Hope she gets hit by a car.'_

Rei imagined the damned idol getting hit by Souichi's car – that would be quite exciting. She let out a small chuckle as she rolled around in her bed. Her thought then shifted to the dark-haired man. There was something about him, not only was he was different from the rest, but he seemed to be always there. Those maroon eyes of his seemed to hold thousands of secrets – and she's going to find out all his little secrets, down to the very last one.

'_Oh Izaya-kun, you're going to be mine.'_

* * *

><p>Unknown to Rei, halfway across the city Izaya was having similar thoughts of his own. Shinra had just bailed him out a few minutes ago and Izaya was now on his way back to his apartment. His day has been uneventful apart from the stumble in with the police, and who'd known that he'd meet Rei in jail cell. Izaya grinned slightly as he remembered her words.<p>

"_I almost strangled an idol to death."_

Nakata Rei… she just gets even more interesting each time he meets her. Izaya longed to know more about her, everything about her. He didn't just want to gather and read information on her anymore, but instead he wants to get to know Rei better as an individual – what makes her tick, how she works. There's no doubt that she's different from the rest of the predictable humans in the city. Rei had a way of surprising him – she manages to surprise him with something new every single time he meets her.

'_Rei, I'm going to find out everything about you.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so once again a pretty short chapter but hope you all enjoyed it! I got <span>5<span> reviews for my last chapter! That's incredible! Thanks to everyone that faved and alerted this story! Means lots to me! :)**

**Special thanks to:**

**Bree Renee - I'm glad it did! I really appreciate you taking the time to review each one of my chapters! Hope you enjoy this one! :)**

**Jezreelsama - Thanks a bunch! :) I hope you like this chapter!**

**a fan of yours - Thank you for the review! And I'm glad you like Rei! Hope you carry on reading! :)**

**Sonic Gamer - I hope you carry on reading my story and thanks so much! I'm not very confident in my writing so thanks again! :)**

**Risa-chan - Thank you for reviewing! I hope you liked this chapter! :)**


	6. Daddy Issues

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Six: Daddy Issues  
><strong>_

* * *

><p>Rio peeked into the classroom cautiously before stepping in when she realized that Rei wasn't in yet. Rei's little episode has been haunting her all night, and she certainly did not want to see the fair-haired girl today.<p>

Xoxo

"You two haven't done anything?" Matsuo-sensei sighed.

Rio stood meekly next to the shorter girl and said nothing. Rei stared blankly at Matsuo and tipped her head to a side.

"Nakata-san, I know it's your first week back but I'd appreciate it if you put some effort into school work," Matsuo crossed his arms. "And you Kamichika-san, I expected more from you. The project is due in tomorrow and you will have no excuses."

"Okay," Rei mumbled and turned on her heels.

Rei quickly made her way back to her seat, avoiding all the glances she's being given. When she was finally comfortably in her seat, she looked up and saw Rio staring at her. She walked over nervously and stood in front of Rei's table.

"Nakata-san," she spoke quietly. "What are we going to do about the project?"

"My house, afterschool?" Rei glanced over at Rio.

"Oh okay," Rio nodded uneasily.

Souichi put down his pen as he heard the front door slam. Rei walked by the living room followed by a girl. A small smile appeared on his face, he was glad Rei has made a new friend. Maybe now she'll keep away from Izaya.

XoXo

Rio sighed contently as she placed the colouring pencil down. She has just spent two hours finishing the poster while Rei sat by the window mumbling to herself. Normally if her partner didn't do any of the work, she'd be incredibly upset, but after witnessing Rei's violent side yesterday she didn't want to take any chances with her.

"Hey Rio," Rei walked over and sat down with her. "Does the name Izaya ring a bell?"

Rio visibly stiffened. It all made sense now. Of coarse… someone like Rei would most definitely know Izaya.

"What about Izaya-san?" Rio whispered.

"How do you know him?" Rei crossed her legs.

"Um…" Rio's gaze dropped to the floor. "I don't really know him… we chatted a few times online… that's all."

"Online? So you've never met?" Rei asked.

Rio shook her head wordlessly. Rei sighed and slumped back onto her bed. Rio looked up back up and stared at the girl rolling in the bed.

"Uh… Nakata-san… I'll just go home then…"

"Huh?" Rei glanced over. "Yeah okay."

Rei watched the girl leave her room and let out a sigh. She was hoping she'd find out more about Izaya from Rio, but apparently not. Rio has obviously bothered by the mention of Izaya's name, and Rio probably knew more than she led on. But Rei wasn't going to pester on about it.

"Rei?" a knock came from the door.

"Hm?"

Souichi stepped in and stood by the door.

"Your friend just left," he stated.

"She's not a friend," Rei shrugged. "We were just doing a project together."

"Oh," Souichi crossed his arms anxiously. "Maybe you two could become friends then."

"Doubt it," Rei chuckled. "I don't think she likes me very much."

"Why not?"

"Oh you know… reasons," Rei yawned. "People don't generally like crazies."

"Don't say that," Souchi frowned.

"Say what?" Rei feigned a gasp. "I'm sorry did I say something wrong?"

"Rei stop it," Souichi took a step forward.

Rei shrugged with another yawn and crawled under the sheets. Souichi sighed and headed back to the door.

"Rei take a quick nap okay?" Souichi mumbled. "Dad should be back later tonight."

"Whatever…"

XoXo

Rei woke to the sound of heavy footsteps. They were not hers, not her brothers, so that only left one person – her father. She dragged herself out of bed and peeked out the door. Sure enough, he was standing outside his bedroom with a heap of bags.

"Rei is that you?" he called though he kept his back turned to her.

Rei took a breath and walked out. He turned around and gave her a look.

"You've grown taller," he commented.

"Yeah," Rei nodded. "… That tends to happen…"

"Well okay then," he cleared his throat. "Go join your brother downstairs. I'll have some news for you two, I'll be down shortly."

Rei turned and headed downstairs, she sat next to her brother on a sofa and waited for their father. Souichi remained tense the whole time they waited and frankly Rei couldn't care less. Her guess was that her father just needed to say a few things about work and when he's leaving again.

Nakata Daichi walked into the living room and sat across from his children. His eldest was watching him expectantly where as his daughter just sat staring at her bruised toes. Daichi licked his dry lips and crossed his arms.

"Souichi, Rei," he hummed. "I am currently in the process of buying out a Japanese pharmaceutical company, that'll mean that I'll be staying in Japan from now on."

"So you'll be staying with us?" Souichi asked skeptically.

"Yes," Daichi nodded, he then turned his attention to his daughter. "Rei? Why the silence?"

"Do you have to live here?" Rei eyed her father blankly.

"Well of coarse," Daichi chuckled slightly. "The point of buying the company was so that I could stay here with my family. I've spent too long away from my children."

"Oh."

Rei watched her father's lips move but his eyes stayed focused on her brother – as per usual, he was only interested in Souichi. Rei stood up and headed back upstairs. This was not what she expected, she was expecting some sort of important news but nothing like this. Living together with her father again, it seemed surreal, and… not right.

Her first thought was to leave, and that's exactly what she's planning to do. She grabbed a duffel bag and emptied out her closet. Rei tiptoed out into the corridor with the bag, and after checking that her father and brother are still in the living room, she snuck into the garage and through there left the house.

* * *

><p>"I heard about your recent run-in with Izaya," Shinra smiled brightly. "I sincerely hope no one got hurt."<p>

Shizuo glared at him through his shades and took a large puff from his cigarette. Shinra simply sighed back contently as he leaned back onto the park bench. He's incredibly tired, having been working the whole day.

"If you hadn't introduced that annoying bastard to me, my life would be a whole lot easier," Shizuo retorted back as he took a quick glance at his watch. "I should go, I have to work tomorrow."

"Yeah, I should get going too," Shinra checked his watch – 9:54.

The two young men got up and walked towards the entrance of the park. Shizuo strode quietly, taking whiffs from his cigarette every now and then. The park was fairly deserted apart from a few couples.

"Ah."

Shizuo paused and turned to see Shinra stopped in front of an elderly man with a sketchpad. He tapped his foot impatiently as Shinra mumbled something to the man with a smile.

"Let's go," Shizuo grunted.

"Right," Shinra looked over his way briefly before turning back to the man. "Well think about what I said!"

With that, Shinra joined Shizuo again.

"What was that about?" Shizuo began walking again.

"Nothing," Shinra shrugged. "I just suggested something about his drawing."

Shizuo didn't ask any further, drawings weren't really a large interest of his. The two continued to walk in silence until they reached the playground. Shizuo noticed a lone figure sitting by the swings. By the looks of the silhouette, it was a girl, and not just any girl, it was the girl with Izaya. Shizuo stopped mid-step and stared.

"What's wrong?" Shinra asked glancing back at him.

"That girl," Shizuo lifted his chin in the girl's direction.

"Who? The pretty blonde?" Shinra asked fixing his glasses to get a better view of the girl. "What about her? Do you know her?"

"No I don't, but she was hanging around Izaya," Shizuo noticed she had a bag with her.

"Really?" Shinra noticed it too. "It looks like she's not going home tonight."

"Forget about her," Shizuo turned back and started walking again. "She's just trouble."

"Right, okay."

Shinra caught up with Shizuo as they rounded a corner. They reached the entrance. Shizuo put out his cigarette and stuck a hand in his pocket.

"I'll see you then," Shizuo walked off with a wave.

"Bye."

Shinra was just about walk the away but remembered the girl in the park. It was late and dangerous with the slasher wondering about. Shinra turned around and looked back into the eerie park. With a sigh he began walking back in – Izaya can owe him one.

* * *

><p>Rei kicked the dirt under her feet to pass the time, she's been sitting there for the past two hours on the swing. Thank god it was nighttime and the loud, annoying children were asleep at home. The last thing Rei needed now was noise.<p>

"Hi."

'_I spoke to soon…'_

Rei looked up and saw a young man wearing a white coat and glasses. He had a friendly smile on his face.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "It's pretty late, what are you doing?"

"Not much," Rei shrugged. "I'm just minding my own business. What are you doing?"

"Well I'm on my way home actually," he replied. "I'm Shinra by the way."

"Rei."

"Why aren't you at home, Rei?" Shinra took the free swing next to her.

"I don't want to go home," she gave her duffel bag a light kick.

"Why not?"

"He moved back in," Rei mumbled. "I don't like him."

"Who?"

"My dad."

"Oh," Shinra thought about his issues with his dad. "It must be difficult."

"No shit," she chuckled. "I wouldn't be sitting out here freezing my butt off if it wasn't."

Shinra remembered Shizuo's words from earlier, but discarded the thought with a smile.

"Why don't you come with me?" he asked. "I have an apartment not far from here."

"What?"

"I live with my… girlfriend and I'm sure she won't mind having you around," Shinra stood up.

"What kind of girlfriend would be fine about her boyfriend bringing home a teenage girl?" Rei asked curiously.

"A brainless one," Shinra chuckled. "Come, I'm sure you'll like her."

"… Okay."

XoXo

Rei followed Shinra out of the elevator quietly, so he wasn't lying, he did actually have an apartment and she wasn't walking into her grave. Shinra unlocked the door and opened the door wide for Rei to walk in first.

"Celty! We have a guest!"

Rei walked down the dark corridor cautiously and bumped into something. It felt like a person – it was definitely a person, a woman. The shadow flipped a switch on the wall, and the lights came on. She jumped back immediately and froze on the spot. Where the head should normally be was empty. There was no head. She has no head. Shinra's girlfriend has no head.

"Wow," Rei breathed.

She walked over and stared at the dark matter coming from Celty's neck. Without warning Rei swung an arm through the dark shadows. She laughed and did it again.

"Wow," she repeated with a joyous laugh.

"I knew you'd like Celty," Shinra chuckled from behind Rei.

Celty stood stiffly as this young girl continued to run her hand through over her neck repeatedly. Hundreds of questions were running through her mind. Who's this girl and why is she here? And why does Shinra look like the smuggest man alive?

* * *

><p><strong>Okay I'm terribly sorry for updating so late. I have no excuse – I've been playing Mass Effect 3 since it came out, and before it came out I've just been <strong>**fangirling over it. I promise to write the next chapter within the next two weeks – I've already got ideas for it… I just need to… well write it xD**

**And thank you ****Maggie**** for helping me come up with ideas for this chapter! **

**Thank you to everyone who favorited and alerted this story! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**

**Special thanks for reviewing:**

**Bree Renee** - thank you so much for reviewing as usual! And I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it took me so long xD

**SilverNeira** - thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you like Rei :)

**Polar8Bear** – thank you so much! I always get super giddy when someone compliments my writing! :DD I hope you liked this chapter!

**Amara-nii chan** – a big thanks to you for reviewing! :) I was going over my reviews and after I saw yours I kind of dropped everything else and was like _'right you better sit your ass down and finish this next chapter'_. So your review gave me that little push I needed. Thank you again and I hope you continue to read this story! :D


	7. A New Player Enters

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Seven: A New Player Enters  
><strong>_

* * *

><p>The morning after, Celty was sitting next to the girl on the sofa. She's been shaking for the last couple of minutes. Celty drummed her lap with her fingers nervously as the younger girl continued to peer at her. Celty reached for her phone on the table and began typing.<p>

_**[My name is Celty. What's your name?]**_

"Rei." She mumbled.

_**[It's nice to meet you. How do you know Shinra?]**_

"I don't," Rei responded with a small shrug. "I met him at the park last night, I told him I don't want to go home and he offered to let me stay."

_**[Really? Why don't you want to go home?]**_

"My dad came home last night," Rei replied. "I don't like him."

_**[Why not?]**_

"… It's not important," she murmured. "What about you? How long have you and Shinra been going out for?"

_**[What?]**_

"He said you were his girlfriend."

Rei watched the shadows emerge from the angry dullahan. Celty stood up and marched into one of the bedrooms.

"Celty? What are you doing here? C-Celty? W-what's wrong?"

A loud crash came from the bedroom, and after a few moments of silence Celty strode back out with her arms crossed over her chest. She slumped back down on the sofa next to Rei and began typing again.

_**[We are **__**not**__** going out.]**_

"Oh."

For once, Rei had nothing to say. She just sat quietly next to Celty. The birds chirped outside the window and Celty realized something.

_**[Don't you have school?]**_

"Ah… well I might," Rei gave an innocent smile.

_**[Rei… go get ready now.]**_

"But I'm late already! Why bother?" Rei groaned.

_**[No! Get yourself changed right now young lady.]**_

"I don't want to," Rei pouted and crossed her arms.

_**[You can ride on my motorbike.]**_

"Really?" Rei's eyes sparkled.

_**[Yes.]**_

"Come on let's go then!"

* * *

><p>Souichi sighed exasperatedly as sat stuck in traffic, he glanced over at the empty oncoming lane next to him and groaned. He has been searching for Rei all night when he found out she wasn't in her room, and he had hoped that she would show up in school. But the school had insisted that Rei hasn't shown up at all this morning.<p>

Then a familiar sound came from the other lane. Souichi turned and saw the black biker race down the street, but there was someone else on the back of the motorbike. Someone that looked a lot like his little sister. Souichi gaped as the bike flashed by, and stuck his head out of the window to watch them drive down the street.

Rei was with the black biker. Souichi frowned, from all the people she could have been with, it just had to have been the black biker. He'd rather her be with Orihara Izaya than the black biker.

'_Wait… Orihara Izaya…'  
><em>

* * *

><p>Shinra rubbed his sore back as he poured his cup of coffee. He was in for a long day of work for Yagri Pharmaceuticals, and his day wasn't exactly starting off brilliantly. His cellphone rang and he reached over to pick it up.<p>

"Hello?"

"I need to have something delivered," Izaya's slick voice said.

"Celty's out for the moment, you'll have to wait," Shinra yawned.

"So early? What for?" Izaya asked.

"She's on her own delivery job," Shinra grinned.

"What? Don't make it sound so mysterious Shinra," Izaya chuckled.

"I'll tell Celty you called when she gets back alright?" Shinra asked.

"Yes, okay," Izaya replied.

"By the way, I met a friend of yours last night," Shinra smiled smugly.

"Friend? I have many friends, you'll have to be much more specific," Izaya chuckled over the line once again.

"I met a Rei-chan?" Shinra attempted to sound too obvious.

"…"

"Izaya?"

"So you met Rei-chan?" Izaya finally asked.

"Yes, she's quite different from the rest eh Izaya?" Shinra chuckled. "I found her in the park late at night yesterday, she said she ran away from home."

"What? Really?" Izaya asked. "Then where is she now?"

"Well she stayed the night in the spare room," Shinra smiled. "And she should be at school now."

"… Is that why my courier is unavailable this morning?" Izaya asked.

"Yes."

"I see you, you best call me back when she returns," Izaya mumbled quickly. "I have a client. Bye."

Shinra placed the phone done with a smile, while thinking about their high school years. Of coarse there was the fact that Izaya and Shizuo couldn't stay in the same room without trying to kill each other, hanging out with either of them meant that you wouldn't have much friends. Which was fine, but that also meant that girls were afraid to approach them. Shizuo was 'too scary', Izaya was 'creepy' and Shinra was 'that kid that hung out with them'.

Shinra sipped his coffee and let out a small chuckle.

Things were getting good.

XoXo

Izaya placed his phone down on the table and smiled at the man that just walked in. Nakata Souichi walked up to the desk with a small frown and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Orihara-san," he greeted.

"Ah! Nakata-san! How can I help you?" Izaya stood up. "Come, let us sit on the sofas."

Souichi followed the Izaya to the sofas and took a seat across from him.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Izaya asked.

"No, it's quite alright," Souichi nodded. "But I am in need of your services."

"What do you need?" Izaya asked.

"Well, it's about my sister," Souichi tried to ignore the giant grin that appeared on Izaya's face. "She's gone missing."

"Rei-chan? I haven't heard from her since our little run-in few days ago," Izaya shrugged. "Is there any reason why she would run away?"

"… My father just came back from America," Souichi swallowed uneasily. "Rei has never been fond of him… I guess it could be a possibility."

"Well I'll have a look into it for you Nakata-san."

Izaya stood up and walked back over to his desk. Izaya began typing away at his keyboard in an attempt to look like he's busy with something. He heard footsteps approach the desk and sighed under his breath.

"One more thing Orihara-san," Souicihi whispered.

"Yes?"

"I saw Rei earlier this morning… with the black biker."

"Are you sure?" Izaya tried to sound skeptical.

"Yes, I'm certain it was Rei."

"That's troubling," Izaya shifted some papers on his desk. "I'll do what I can to find her."

"Thank you, Orihara-san," Souichi nodded. "I'll leave you to it then."

"Of coarse."

Izaya watched the older man leave wordlessly. Nothing he had said was really new to Izaya, but watching Souichi's painful expressions was worth the time. Though one thing did caught him off guard, Rei's father, her reason for running away. Izaya smiled, that innocent smile turned into a vast grin, and finally he burst out laughing madly. Rei just gets even more interesting every passing day, her delightful personality, her family, and her involvement with Kida, Mikado, and now Celty. Rei is definitely going to play a large role in his plan. Izaya strolled over to his Go board and placed a black queen piece in the center of the board.

"What's your next move going to be, Rei-chan?"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7! I planned on making this longer but decided to split it into two chapters :P<strong>

****Thanks to the people who favorited and alerted! :)****

**And oh my god! 5 reviews for the last chapters? I'm going crazy :DD**

**Special Thanks:**

Bree Renee - I'm serious, you're like my favorite person ever. You're always first to review my chapters :3

Im-Ina-Tent - Haha, I'm glad my writing made someone fangirl! (Y) I know right? Trust me, I'm a terrible speller too! Gaah thank you! That means a lot to me! :)

Risa-sama - I'm glad you did too! :) Creative juices and plot bunnies? xD That's been stuck in my head ever since I read it! haha! I'm glad you like Rei!

Rhiannon Rain - Thank you! I definitely plan to! I don't know how long it'll take me, but I swear I will finish this :)

Amara-nii chan - ohoho, the almighy Amara-nii chan has reviewed my chapter again! This must mean I'll be able to write the next one faster! :D


	8. Manly Man

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Eight: Manly Man  
><strong>_

* * *

><p><em><strong><strong>_Rei strolled down the corridor, paying no mind at all that she was an hour late. She pushed the door to her classroom wide open. Matsuo-sensei looked up from his desk and narrowed his eyes.

"Nakata-san, you are late," Matsuo frowned.

"Yeah," Rei nodded. "… Sorry."

"Kamichika-san has already done the presentation," Matsuo crossed his arms.

"Oh, okay," Rei mumbled.

"Nakata-san, please just take your seat," Matsuo sighed. "And in the future if you're planning to show up late, please inform your family."

"What?"

"Your brother ran in frantically this morning asking for you," Matsuo informed with a small hint of a smile.

"Oh…" Rei imagined the scene in her head. "I will do so, sorry for the trouble."

For once, since the beginning of the school year the presiding Nakata Rei had apologized politely, this was something new. Matsuo nodded satisfactorily and turned to continue his lecture. Rei took her seat and listened in to the bland lecture every now and then, but she mostly kept her eyes glued on the clouds rolling in the sky.

XoXo

The rest of the day went by rather quickly. Now that the tedious project was over, Rei could spend her time slacking off in class. Class had ended a few minutes later than usual, so when she got out the corridors were already crowded. Rei shied away from the students and scurried through the side, against the wall.

There was someone by her shoe cabinet, as she approached she realized it was Mikado holding onto a plastic bag. Rei gave him a questioningly look before turning to open her cabinet, she swapped her shoes around in record speed and shut the little door.

"Hello Mikado-kun," she nodded.

"A-ah hello Nakata-san," he greeted anxiously. "Here are your shoes."

He held out the plastic bag in his hands. Rei examined the bag after receiving it, and after confirming they were indeed her white flats, she smiled and thanked him.

"Goodbye."

"Uh, bye."

Rei stalked out the building, stuffing the plastic bag into her schoolbag. Rei paused by the school gates, trying to remember the way back to Shinra's apartment. She took a left and began walking.

'_So far so good.'_

Rei recognized the surroundings from when Celty drove her over. Or so she thought. Rei hadn't realized that she's been walking around in circles for the past couple of minutes. Rei frowned after seeing the same billboard for the third time. She sat on the pavement in front of the billboard and sighed.

XoXo

Shizuo took a whiff from his cigarette and carried on walking home. He's had a long day working with Tom-san, but luckily there had been no sign of Izaya. He rounded a corner and frowned slightly. There sitting on the ground in front of a billboard, was the blonde girl with Izaya. She looked up and their eyes met momentarily before Shizuo looked away. He walked over to the bin next to the billboard and flicked his cigarette.

"You were that kid with Izaya right?" he asked.

"Rei."

"What?"

"My name is Rei."

"Oh," Shizuo nodded. "I'm Shizuo."

"I know."

Shizuo tapped his foot restlessly and watched her shift slightly.

"What do you know about Izaya?" she asked.

"He's an annoying piece of shit," Shizuo replied through his teeth.

"I think he's interesting," Rei shrugged.

"Well you must a pretty messed up kid to be hanging around him," Shizuo retorted.

"Hey, you're really strong right?" she looked up at him.

"What about it? Shizuo glanced down at her briefly.

"Can you pick that up?" Rei pointed at a parked car.

"I can," he nodded.

"Will you?" she asked when Shizuo didn't move.

"No," he shook his head once.

"Why not?" Rei _almost _whined.

"Because it's dangerous," he sighed.

"It's not like there's anyone around," she swung her arms dramatically. "Please?"

"Fine," he put his cigarette out and walked up to the car.

Rei watched in amazement as Shizuo lifted the car over his head with ease. Rei clapped with a silly grin plastered on her face. Shizuo stared at her, not once has anyone applauded him for his strength, most just run away screaming. He placed the car back down in its place, except he might have used a little too much strength as the car looked slightly deformed now. He stared at the obvious dents were his fingers had been, and with a sigh pushed his hands into his pockets.

"That was so cool," Rei grinned. "I wish I could do that."

"Why?" he joined her on the ground.

"Who wouldn't want to throw cars around?" she smiled.

"You're a strange kid," he chuckled, lighting another cigarette.

"You're not the first to say that," she shrugged.

"Heh…"

The two looked up when they heard the familiar sound of a motorbike. Celty cut the engine and stepped off the bike. Shizuo and Rei waved simultaneously.

_**[What are you doing here Shizuo?]**_

"Just about to leave," he stood up and brushed the dust off his trousers. "I'll see you later Celty. Rei."

"Bye Shizuo-san," Rei called after him.

He waved back over his shoulder and disappeared around a corner. Celty watched him go, trying to figure out why the two were speaking at all. She turned back and faced the young girl who was still on the ground.

_**[Are you all right Rei?]**_

"Yeah," Rei nodded. "I got lost and bumped into Shizuo-san, and then he lifted a car off the ground, it was really cool."

_**[Oh really? I'd imagine so. Did you get lost trying to get back to the apartment?]**_

"Yeah," Rei admitted. "I don't really remember the way back."

_**[Come on, I'll take you back.]**_

Rei mounted the bike after Celty and the two sped off down the street.

* * *

><p>Souichi groaned when the dialing tone clicked to Izaya's voicemail greeting. He has been calling anxiously all evening, but Izaya hadn't picked up once. Nakata Daichi has too been making phone calls all evening, but for a completely different reason. It was difficult to make negotiations with Yagiri Pharmaceuticals, especially when the owner was a young woman with no interest in selling the company. Though they will have to, eventually.<p>

"Souichi, I need you to help me run some figures," he called across to his son.

"Dad, I'm kind of busy now," Souichi glanced over. "There's still no news on Rei."

"Well, Rei has ran away quite a number of times before right?" Daichi watched his son nod. "And she always comes back."

"But it's different this time," Souichi insisted. "… I saw her with the black biker."

"The urban legend?" Daichi tried to contain his laughter. "Are you sure you weren't imagining things?"

"One hundred percent sure," Souichi scowled at his father's expression. "Knowing Rei, I don't think she's going to come back on her own this time."

"… We'll give it a couple of hours more," Daichi concluded with a cross of his arms. "If Rei doesn't get back by nine o'clock, I'll contact the police."

"Thank you," Souichi nodded appreciatively.

"Well of coarse, she is my daughter."

* * *

><p>Shinra and Celty watched the young girl sleep by the door, after making sure Rei was sound asleep the two headed for the living room. They hadn't had time to speak to each other about the whole Rei situation, and frankly by the looks of things it was a lot bigger than they assumed.<p>

"I picked her up yesterday in the park," Shinra explained. "I was speaking with Shizuo and he said that he saw her with Izaya a few days ago."

_**[She was speaking with Shizuo as well when I found her today.]**_

"Really?" Shinra scratched the back of his head. "And he was the one who told me to leave her…"

_**[What do you think Izaya wants with her?]**_

"Well it's hard to say," Shinra shrugged. "No one really knows what goes on in Izaya's twisted mind."

_**[Rei as well – she's… different. A good different.]**_

"I agree," Shinra chuckled back. "I did a little research into Rei's family earlier today, and her dad owns a large company in America. A fairly wealthy family. Dad, no mum, a brother and Rei."

_**[What happened to Rei's mum?]**_

"She died when Rei was four, in a car accident," Shinra recalled.

_**[So she's never had much of a mother.]**_

"I guess so," Shinra nodded back. "I can't imagine how hard it has been for Rei-chan, growing up amongst men and having no mother figure."

_**[Do you think Rei's dad is looking for her?]**_

"According to Izaya: no," Shinra flipped his phone open. "But her brother, Souichi, is."

_**[What should we do?]**_

"Nothing," Shinra replied. "We'll let Rei-chan stay for as long as she needs to, she's free to do with she likes."

_**[Are you sure that's the best idea? Especially when Izaya is involved?]**_

"I really don't think we have the right to do anything," Shinra flipped his phone shut. "Especially as we barely know her."

Celty began typing, but stopped after realizing she was at a lost for words. Shinra was right, Rei wasn't any of her responsibility. Celty did only just meet her yesterday, and Rei wasn't exactly… sane. In the short times they've spent together, Celty had realized that she reminded her a lot of a certain dark-haired man.

Shinra watched Celty shake slightly and sighed.

"There's nothing we can do," Shinra held her shoulder understandingly. "It's Izaya's game."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8 done! Not much going on here, but I promise it'll get better! By the way, if anyone has any ideas, pleaaaase don't be afraid to tell me. <strong>

**Thank you to everyone who favorited and alerted! :)**

**Special thanks:**

**Bree Renee** - Thank you as per usual :) I'm glad you think so! I always worry about characters being OOC.

**The Name Is Greed** – Aw, that review made me smile :') I'm glad that I put a smile on someone's face. I know how bad life could get and I'm happy that I helped someone out :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Haley** – Thank you for the review! I'm glad you enjoy the story! :)

**Usotsuki Lily** – Thank you for reviewing all my chapters from 1-7! Oh my god, I was sitting in class checking and my reviews went from 20-something to 32! I was so surprised! _'Also if you want to be an idol you can't be a hag like that yuki rawr.' _I legit lolled xD. And sorry, I do like to end things off with cliffhangers, I can't help it :P

**Im-Ina-Tent** – That's really kind of you to say so! :) Aw, thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it! :D


	9. Just You

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Nine: Just You  
><strong>_

* * *

><p>Rei frowned when she saw that her school was surrounded by police officers, all had photographs in hand and were inquiring about her. Rei was standing across the street and the officers hadn't spotted her yet, but it's only a matter of time. She watched Mikado being questioned and he was visibly shaking.<p>

The last thing Rei wanted was to go home, so she did the only logical thing – she turned and walked away from the school. Instead of facing her problems head on, she ran away from them. That's what she has always done and she was good at it.

Going back to the apartment wasn't a choice as she had heard Shinra and Celty speaking about working early today, and Rei has yet to receive her own key to the apartment. For once, Rei actually preferred school than wandering around aimlessly and homelessly. Maybe if she's lucky she'll bump into Shizuo again, though she doubted it, he wouldn't be out so early.

Something caught her eye, the couple walking towards her. They looked no older than Rei herself, but there was something a bit off about them. The girl was clutching onto the boy's arm as if her life depended on it, she whispered something over to her boyfriend and he glanced over at Rei momentarily before turning back to her.

"Don't worry about it Celty," he whispered, but not quietly enough as they walked by.

Rei paused in her tracks and turned to look after them over her shoulder. If her hearing was not failing her, then she was certain she heard him call her Celty. Rei is no expert on names, but Celty is not a typical Japanese name. Though now that she thought about it, the girl didn't look all that Japanese either, in fact she was very pretty, in a foreign kind of way.

The girl glanced back at her anxiously, and immediately turned away when she saw Rei watching her.

That was it. That was all Rei needed, that simple little gesture put a smile on Rei's face. She had a secret and Rei was going to find out.

"Hi!" Rei called after them.

The boy stopped and turned around, with his girlfriend still in tow.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"You look kind of familiar," Rei pretended to think. "Do we go to the same school?"

"I don't go to school anymore," he scowled back.

"Oh cool," she replied with a polite smile. "I'm Rei."

"Seiji," he nodded back. "If that's it then we're going-."

"What about you?" Rei turned her attention to the girl in Seiji's arms. "What's your name?"

She doesn't speak, but grasps onto Seiji tighter.

"Her name is Celty," Seiji steps in. "She's my girlfriend."

"Really?" Rei gasped. "I know someone called Celty too! What a coincidence! That's a really unusual name, where are you from?"

Once again, she doesn't speak but looks down at her feet.

"Seiji-san, is your girlfriend shy?" Rei asked with another innocent smile.

"Yes," Seiji replied with a small smile. "I love everything about Celty though."

"That's very sweet of you," Rei egged him on. "How did you two meet?"

"She has always been my loved one," Seiji gave the girl's hand a tight squeeze. "It was just a matter of finding her."

"Oh?" Rei mouthed eyeing the two. "That's very romantic, Celty-san you're very lucky."

Rei was getting slightly annoyed by the girl's lack of words. Every time a question is directed at her, all she does is look down nervously without a word. Seiji seemed to have finally noticed his girlfriend's unease.

"We should leave now," he nodded. "Goodbye, Rei-san."

"Bye Seiji-san, Celty-san," Rei waved with a grin.

The two headed off down the street leaving Rei to ponder on things. There was definitely something up with that girl, especially the way she eyed Rei as if she was seeing a ghost.

XoXo

Rei has been sauntering down the streets for the past hour and a half. No matter what came to her mind, her thoughts always eventually drifted back to Seiji and Celty. There was something unsettling about the couple, especially what Seiji had said to her.

Rei loved it.

She loved anything out of the norm.

Rei continued to walk down the street, doing her best to ignore the stares she was receiving from adults on their way to work. Sure she was in her uniform, and it is strange seeing a student out of school early in the morning, but who were they to judge?

Rei stopped abruptly on the busy street. She immediately grinned at the familiar fluffy-hemmed hoodie. He stood across from her with a similar smile on his face. Izaya pushed through the crowd and eventually reached her.

"Good morning, Rei-chan," he greeted.

"Good morning, Izaya-kun," she smiled back.

"Did you know that if you kept walking down the street," Izaya leaned in closer. "You'll eventually walk straight into the police?"

"Oh," Rei mouthed. "No I didn't know that. That would be rather problematic. I've already had to run away from school because of them."

"Rei-chan, you should know that it's not safe for you in Ikebukuro anymore," Izaya reached for her hand. "Come, let's speak more in my office."

XoXo

"What did you mean by it's not safe for me in Ikebukuro anymore?" Rei asked as they entered Izaya's fused office-apartment.

"Well assuming you don't want to be caught by the police," Izaya pulled his hoodie off. "It's going to be difficult for you to stay in Ikebukuro as almost all of the police have been alerted to find you."

"Did my brother put the police up to this?" Rei asked, sitting on a large sofa.

"Your dad actually," Izaya sat across her. "Your brother came to see me yesterday, but it was your dad that filed the missing person report."

"I see," Rei nodded, her lips quivering. "What do you think I should do then? I slept overnight at… um- his name is Shinra. I slept over at Shinra's apartment last night."

"Yes, he told me," Izaya nodded. After seeing Rei's skeptical face, he quickly added: "We went to high school together."

"So you know Celty as well then," she just about figured he knew everyone.

"I do," he smiled at Rei's ecstatic expression.

"Isn't she the coolest?" Rei asked excitedly. "I mean, come on! She has no head! That's so freaking cool."

"Funny you would say that," Izaya chuckled. "Did you know that Celty has spent the last few years searching for her lost head?"

"What? Really?" Rei made a face. "Why? I think she's great without it."

"As do I," Izaya smiled. "Back to your situation: I think it is best for you to stop going to school for now. You could carry on staying in Shinra's apartment for now, but try to remain unseen."

"I wish my dad would just go home," Rei groaned.

"He is home," Izaya chuckled.

"I mean, America," Rei rolled her eyes. "It's where he's always been and he should go back."

"What happened with you and your dad, Rei-chan?" Izaya inquired, deeply interested.

"Well you know, he's always been busy with work," Rei shrugged eyeing his Go board on his desk. Rei stood up and made her way over to it. "I guess I never really got to know him, but I never quite liked him for being… not there."

"So you didn't like him for leaving you and your brother behind?" Izaya elaborated.

"I think…" Rei tapped the black queen slightly. "It's more like I've gotten so used to him not there, I kind of prefer him away."

"I see," Izaya nodded, dropping the topic.

"You play a fascinating game," Rei commented, examining his board.

"I do," he agreed, joining her by the desk.

"Am I this one?" she asked picking up the piece she's been toying with.

"Reasons to why you think you're a queen?" Izaya queried, taking the piece from her.

"I'd like to think you hold me in high regards," she chuckled with a smile.

"I do," he concurred, placing the piece back down. "Why black over white?"

"Please, I'm sure you've noticed," she scoffed.

"Noticed what?" he was genuinely bemused.

"I'm crazy!" her voice echoed slightly.

Izaya stared at her, only then did he realize how dry his lips felt. He pursed his lips together to moisten them up and grinned. Rei's expression changed from stoic to ecstatic, it wasn't long before she was laughing. Izaya watched her the whole time with an amused look.

"Black is more interesting no?" Rei mumbled after she stopped her laughter. "There's a certain mystery to it, a mystery ready for you to unravel. Where as white, everything is clear and readable."

"That's right," Izaya nodded.

"You think I'm mysterious?" she chuckled.

"Very," he smirked. "The moment I think I've got you figured out, you do something that contradicts my opinion."

"You're pretty much the same for me," Rei sighed.

"People are interesting," Izaya concluded. "Don't you agree, Rei-chan?"

"Nah," Rei shook her head.

Izaya stared back at her bewildered. She looked back at him and grinned.

"Just you."

* * *

><p><strong>Whooo! Took me a while to get that done. And it is now 4:06am! Brilliant! :D Haha, at least I'll get this up before I go to sleep. I hope this chapter was up to par!<strong>

**Thanks to all that alerted and favorited!**

**Special thanks to:**

Im-Ina-Tent– lol! She's like my inner crazy xD I'm glad you do! HaHA! Well I hope this chapter filled your need for him! :)

easily1994addicted– Okay first thing's first – YOU HAVE MARUI AND NIOU IN YOUR AVATAR PIC THING! OMG! I'm like crazy fangirling! I freaking love Prince of Tennis! And and, Rikkaidai's my favorite team tied with Shitenhouji, and and, OMG YOU HAVE PRINCE OF TENNIS IN YOUR PICTURE! _Okay. _Okay. I'm okay. I'm done. Thank you so much for the review! I'm glad you like my story! & Also sorry for kind of assaulting you with my fangirling xD

Risa-sama– Awww, I'm glad you didn't kill him! :D Without him, my little fic would have no crazy-person (numero dos). Oh stop it you, with the lovely compliments! I apologize, but every single part of me is being saved for the day I marry the very lovely Jared Leto(who is my god-basically, yeah.) Gaaaahhhh~. Thank you! And I apologize for rambling, it is now 4:18am, and I really need to get some sleep.

**Adios bitttcchhes (by bitches, i of coarse mean by lovely readers-hey guysz & **yeh, I'm a Spanish student! What what?**) – I'll probably regret this tomorrow- or later totoday,whatevs.**


	10. Preparations

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Ten: Preparations**_

* * *

><p>"Just you."<p>

Izaya blinked a couple of times just to make sure he heard right. Rei stared back at him wordlessly, waiting for him to say something back. It was a strange feeling to be at a lost for words, normally Izaya would always have an opinion but he couldn't think at all.

"You know," Rei started when he said nothing. "I've always thought people were boring, no matter what mask they put on they were all the same on the inside: dull."

"And what's different about me?" he asked.

"You think differently," she smiled, pointing back at his Go board.

"Fair enough," Izaya chuckled with a nod.

"Where's your bathroom?" she asked, hopping off the chair.

"Through that hall," he pointed over to an arch.

Izaya watched Rei leave the room with a small smile. After she was out of sight, he took his seat at his desk and began typing away on his computer. He opened up the hacked police databases to check their progress on the search for Rei. He scrolled through, scanning through the updates carefully.

He quickly minimized the screen when Rei walked back out. She made her way over with a stretch and groaned.

"What? You took my seat?" she narrowed her eyes on him.

"Sorry, Rei-chan," Izaya chuckled. "Do you want me off?"

"No, it's fine," she shook her head, picking up his binoculars from the desk. She walked towards the windows and watched the people below. "I met Shizuo-san yesterday."

"Oh this ought to be good," Izaya crossed his arms.

"He called you 'an annoying piece of shit'," Rei giggled.

Turning around, Rei watched Izaya through the binoculars. Through the binoculars she could only see his eyes. Realizing that she was too close, she started taking steps back towards the sofas.

"I'm hurt that you'd laugh at that, Rei-chan," Izaya smirked.

"Why does he think you're an annoying piece of shit?" she asked.

"Well if it was obvious enough, we don't get on that well," Izaya replied.

"Why not?" she moved further back, and sat down on a sofa.

"We don't like each other," Izaya restored the database now that Rei was far away enough.

"Why don't you?" she asked.

"… Good question," he glanced back at her.

With a sigh, Rei tossed the binoculars onto the empty sofa across from her. She stretched her legs out in front of her and placed them on the coffee table. She was strangely tired. The last thing she saw before falling asleep was Izaya picking up his cellphone.

* * *

><p>Rei woke up a couple of hours later – well more as if she managed to fall off the sofa. The lights were off, and the desk was empty. She rubbed her aching head and noticed that there was a sheet wrapped over bare legs. Izaya must have put it on her before he left. She stood up and walked over to the desk and found a note. Despite the lighting, Rei managed to make out the words.<p>

'**I got some things I got to do, just lock the door on your way out. Remember to stay out of sight.'**

Rei crumpled up the paper and stuffed it in her pocket. By the looks of the sky, the sun has just begun to set. Perhaps Celty or Shinra are back home now. She folded the sheet neatly and made her way down.

Across town, Celty was watching Mikado anxiously, waiting as he typed away on his computer. Izaya stood next to her, smirking at the whole ordeal. After two minutes, Mikado finally turned around to face them.

"I'll let you meet her," he said. "But we have to do it my way."

If she had her head, Celty would have smiled. She pulled her PDA and began typing right away.

_**[Understood.]**_

XoXo

Izaya and Celty left the shabby apartment after Mikado explained the plan for tomorrow night.

"That was interesting right?" Izaya smirked.

Celty looked back at him but said nothing. She made her way down the stairs and mounted her bike.

"Not so fast," Izaya called after her. "We still have business."

Celty looked back at him and stepped off her bike. She crossed her arms and pulled out her PDA.

_**[What?]**_

"It's about Rei-chan."

_**[What about her?]**_

"It's not safe for her in Ikebukuro. The police are after her. They think it has someone to do with the human trafficking that's been happening recently, but it won't be long beforethey find her with you. And when they do that'll cause a whole lot of problems for you two."

Celty thought for a moment.

_**[Where can she go then?]**_

"I was thinking she could stay in my apartment starting tomorrow. I have extra rooms and she'll be far from the police's reach."

_**[I'm not sure if that's a good idea.]**_

"Why? Do you not trust me?" Izaya laughed.

_**[Yes, I don't.]**_

"Well this is not about what you think," Izaya shrugged. "It's about what's best for her."

_**[Why are you so interested in this girl?]**_

"Have you met her?" Izaya grinned. "How can I not be? How can anyone not be?"

_**[Alright then, I'll tell Rei later.]**_

"No don't tell her, I'll just call her tomorrow," Izaya retorted. "And you should probably hurry home, Rei-chan should be getting back soon."

Celty put her PDA away and climbed onto her bike.

XoXo

Celty found Rei watching TV on the sofa when she got back. Shinra was currently fixing dinner, unaware that she's back. Celty walked over and sat down next to her.

_**[Can we talk?]**_

Rei nodded and muted the TV. She crossed her legs and waited attentively.

_**[You know Ryugamine Mikado right?]**_

"Yeah, what about him?"

_**[Is he trustworthy?]**_

"Uh… sure," Rei shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

_**[You don't sound very certain.]**_

"I don't know him that well," she admitted. "I only spoke to him… like three times."

_**[I see, I'm sorry for the suddenly asking you this.]**_

"Don't worry about it," Rei nodded. "Oh by the way, I can't go to school anymore."

_**[Yes, Izaya told me about that.]**_

"You saw him today?" Rei asked.

_**[Just now.]**_

"… That makes sense, he wasn't there when I woke up."

_**[W-when you woke up? What were you two doing?]**_

"Oh not much," Rei shrugged. "I got a better look at him today."

_**[How so?]**_

"Jeez Celty, calm down," Rei laughed. "I was using binoculars. Looks like dinner's ready."

Just as Rei stood up, Celty typed something else onto her PDA quickly. She tapped Rei's arm and she looked down.

_**[And if you can help it, try to stay inside tomorrow night.]**_

"Why?" Rei asked.

_**[Trust me, there's something big happening tomorrow.]**_

* * *

><p><strong>Yaaay! Chapter 10 done! I know this chapter was short but I promise the next one is going to be longer! I kinda think it's a bit early to get into the big Dollars gathering thing but I really just wanna get this story moving! And holy crap, I'm about 50 hits away from 4k! That's freaking amazing! A big thank you to everyone who's reading this!<strong>

**Thanks to everyone that alerted and faved! :D**

**Special thanks to:**

Bree Renee– hello! Thanks for reviewing as usual! I'm glad you did like it!:)

Kaminari – gaaah! Thank you! I'm glad you like Rei and the story!

TheCatsMeow8562– Thank you so much! I'll do my best to update as often as I can! :)

purple-starburst– Thank you for your review! I hope you liked this (kinda short) chapter! xD

Rynnell- :O You really think so? Aaahh! That's so great so hear! :) Thank you soo much! :)

Im-Ina-Tent– Teheh! I'm glad you liked it! :D Gaaahh! I feel bad that this chapter is so short! Take it as a little filler before THE BIG ONE. No not really, but I'll try my best to get it up soon as I can! Thanks for the review! :)


	11. Late Night Walk

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Eleven: Late Night Walk**_

* * *

><p>Things were strangely intense the next day. Celty had stayed at home all day, chatting to someone on her laptop. Thankfully they had a PS3, it weren't for that Rei would probably have died of boredom. Rei had managed to beat both Shinra and Celty's high scores after hours of playing.<p>

Having beaten their high scores, she turned the console off and looked around the apartment. Shinra has been away all day at work, and Celty had just left not long ago. The apartment was eerily quiet, and Rei didn't like that at all.

Her phone's chime came from the spare bedroom, she walked in and picked up her phone.

"Hello?"

"Rei-chan, it's me."

"Hi."

"I need you to pack your bags and come meet me in front of the train station in the square," Izaya instructed.

"But Celty told me to stay inside."

"Something interesting's about to happen, trust me you'll have fun."

"What is it?"

"You'll have to come find out," she could almost hear him smiling over the line.

"Alright."

"Okay, hurry up or you'll miss it."

Rei hung up, feeling a tad bit lost. She stood up reluctantly and began gathering her belongings. In no time were her bags packed up, as she didn't bring much to begin with.

She walked into the study and wrote a quick scribble addressed to Celty and Shinra, explaining that Izaya called her out. The note was more for Celty than Shinra, as she had specifically told her to stay inside tonight.

Rei hoped that whatever the reason Izaya called her out, it better be good. She adjusted the duffel bag's strap and headed out.

* * *

><p>Rei froze slightly when she got out of the station. There sure where a lot of people here! She weaved through the people, scanning the crowd for any signs of the dark-haired man.<p>

After minutes of wandering through the crowd and having no luck, she made her way to the side of a building. She pulled out her cellphone and looked up Izaya's number.

"Hello, Rei-chan."

Rei did a double take and almost dropped her phone. She looked up at his smiling face with a stern glare.

"What are we doing here?" she asked.

"You'll see," he chuckled. "… Oh wait, duck."

Izaya bent his knees and tugged Rei down with him. Rei shot him a questioning look, but Izaya just smiled and placed a finger over his mouth. It was real stuffy hiding between all these people's legs. Not to mention awkward.

Eventually Izaya stood up again, and Rei followed him up.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"Shizu-chan's somewhere here," Izaya scanned the proximity. "It'd be troublesome if he sees me before the main event."

"What's going to happen?" Rei asked. "Why are all these people here?"

"Quiet down, Rei-chan," Izaya chuckled. "It's going to happen any moment now."

Rei didn't like not knowing. She examined all the people present right now, they didn't look all that different from normal pedestrians. In attempt to get a better look around, she stood on her tiptoes and looked over people's shoulders. Just as Izaya had said, Shizuo was standing next to Simon who was busy handing out fliers with a smile. She diverted her attention left, there were a few well-dressed men looking rather suspicious… and… Mikado?

Yes, it was definitely Mikado, and he was talking a young woman. Their conversation didn't look friendly at all, in fact Mikado almost looked hostile. He pulled something out of his pocket and raised it above his head.

"Hey Izaya-."

Suddenly, Izaya's phone began chiming. Then it was the lady next to her, after her was the boy in front of Izaya, and soon it was everyone surrounding them. Rei was a little taken back and shrunk back into the wall. Izaya chuckled as he showed her the screen of his cellphone.

_**[Anyone who isn't looking at their cell phone right now is an enemy. Don't attack; just glare silently.]**_

Rei's mouth went dry when she realized she hasn't received a message, and sure enough the people closest to her were scowling at her. She did the only logical thing possible. Quickly, she pulled out her phone and kept her eyes on it. She heard Izaya chuckle next to her.

Before she could say anything, the sound of Celty's motorbike echoed down the street. Rei tiptoed again to check both sides of the street for Celty, but she saw nothing through the dozens of heads. Izaya shook his head and pointed up.

Everything froze at that moment.

Rei's eyes widened. The duffel bag around her shoulder was dropped onto the ground.

Celty was scaling down the building on her bike, and a very large scythe in hand. People below began moving out of the way to give her space to land, or more as if so they wouldn't get crushed.

Izaya grinned as he watched Celty fight off the attacking men. He then turned his attention to Rei standing next to him. She was watching the scene intently with a bewildered look in her eyes. Promptly a large grin emerged on her face. Izaya looked back and saw Celty's helmet knocked off the ground. He too smirked as the crowd gathered began to run away in different directions.

Through all the chaos, Rei managed to wriggle her dainty hand into Izaya's larger one. Izaya looked down and stared at their bond hands. This was all a very new experience to Izaya, having someone hold his hand. He was so transfixed on their hands that he didn't notice her lean up to his ear.

"You're right… I am having fun."

A giggle came from her as she pulled away from him and carried on watching Celty. Izaya was still staring at his hand entwined with hers when he heard a sharp cry. He looked up and saw Harima Mika blocking Yagiri Seiji from a blow from Celty's scythe.

"I'm so confused right now," Rei whispered over to him.

"That girl, her name is actually Harima Mika," Izaya leaned into her ear as she carried on watching. "She's a stalker that was supposedly killed by Yagiri. Instead, Harima went through surgery to look like the person Yagiri loves."

"And what does that have to do with Celty?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Yagiri is in love with Celty's head," Izaya chuckled.

This was a surprise, a really big one as a matter of fact. Rei watched Celty leave, wondering if this was what she meant by 'something big'. She sure made a lasting impression on the whole city.

Things seem to calm down after Celty left. The crowds began to disperse and Rei finally pulled her hand away from Izaya's. She picked up her beat up duffel bag and slung it over her shoulder.

"I'm gonna go speak with Mikado," Rei said as she walked ahead.

Mikado was picking up the scalpel from the ground when Rei reached him. He seemed startled when he saw her.

"H-hello Nakata-san," he greeted. "Are you alright? The police have been looking for you."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rei shrugged.

"W-what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was invited by a friend," Rei smiled.

"… You're in the Dollars?" Mikado asked.

"The what?" Rei's eyebrows knit together. "What-."

"She's not."

Izaya stepped into the conversation with a smile.

Mikado stumbled back slightly and gave the two a good look. It made so much sense now. Obviously someone such as Rei would be acquainted with Izaya.

"You two know each other?" Mikado asked, already knowing the reply.

"Yeah," Rei smiled again. "By the way, what's the Dollars?"

"… Eh? You don't know?" Mikado asked, slightly wide-eyed.

"No," Rei retorted. "Does it have something to do with what happened just now?"

"Uh well-."

Izaya grabbed Rei by the arm and ran around to Mikado's right, just in time dodging a large mailbox. All three looked back down the street and watched Shizuo approaching them with a large street sign in his hand.

"Goodbye Tanako Taro!" Izaya called after Mikado.

Once again, Rei found herself running away from Shizuo with Izaya. If she carries on going out with Izaya in public, then this could really become a problem. She looked over her shoulder and saw Shizuo looking around furiously, it seems he has lost sight of them.

"Shizuo-san!" Rei called. "We're over here!"

At once, Shizuo's eyes landed on them. Rei waved back enthusiastically as Izaya tugged her down another street. He pulled them into a semi-crowded convienent store and waited. Shizuo ran past the store yelling not long after they settled in the hiding spot.

"Why did you do that, Rei-chan?" Izaya panted.

"Because I like Shizuo-san," she smiled back. "I'm supposed to be going to your apartment right?"

"Yeah," Izaya nodded.

"Can you buy me something before we go?" she asked.

"Sure," Izaya nodded, disregarding her earlier statement. "Grab me a bottle of water will ya?"

Rei nodded and walked down the aisles, looking for something to eat. She settled for a box of pocky, not wanting to ask Izaya for too much. Then she quickly ran to the end of the store, opened the freezer and grabbed Izaya his bottle of water, and a coke for herself. Izaya paid for the items and they left the store.

The two of them went to the park where they first met. Finding a free bench by the pond, they sat down and rested their sore legs. The park was rather empty considering the lateness. Though there were still wandering couples and homeless men.

Izaya drained his bottle of water in no time, and dumped the plastic bottle into the recycling bin. He looked over at his companion and found her picking at her box of sweets. Once she got it open, she stuck a chocolate-coated stick into her mouth and offered him one. He smiled and took one.

"How cool would it be to smoke?" she grinned, holding her chocolate stick as if it were a cigarette.

"You wouldn't want that," Izaya chuckled.

"Why not?" she asked, munching on the stick.

"You don't want to end up like Shizu-chan," Izaya replied. "Stupid and possibly with lung cancer."

"I guess not," she sighed, eyeing the glistening water. "Hey Izaya?"

"Yes?" he asked.

"Can you take your jacket off?" she asked.

"Why?" he took it off nonetheless.

"Now stand in front of me," she instructed.

Izaya stood up and obliged her, finding this all so very amusing.

"Do you want to go swimming?" she looked up at him with a silly grin.

"What? No-."

Before he could finish his sentence, he was pushed into the pond and drenched to his toes. He rubbed his stinging eyes, and saw Rei laughing on shore.

Only one thought kicked in: revenge.

"No! Don't you dare!" Rei eyed him knowingly.

Now he couldn't really explain what happened, but he had managed to climb back onto shore and drag the wailing girl into the pond with him.

"Oh my god!" Rei laughed when she emerged from the water. "It's freezing!"

"You should have thought of that before you pushed me in," Izaya chuckled.

Rei splashed water in his face and swam back to shore. She climbed back onto the concrete and squeezed the water out of her hair. Izaya got out too and pulled his shoes off.

"That wasn't a very smart idea," Rei said, though there was a certain amusement behind her voice.

"Not smart at all," Izaya nodded pouring the water out of his shoe.

"Oh my god," she laughed eyeing the water dripping from his shoe. "Not smart, but it sure was fun."

For the first time today, Izaya took in her appearance. Her fair hair was a couple of shades darker than usual when soaked in water… or pond water. And her sundress stuck onto her skinny form, leaving no room for imagination.

"What?" she asked when she noticed him staring.

"No I was just wondering, looking at your hair," Izaya replied. "Has your hair always been this dark or was it the dirt in the water?"

Rei listened at his comment and stared at the hair in her hands. He was right it was covered in dirt, grass and god knows what.

"Urgh," Rei dropped the hair. "Let's go, I really want a shower."

Rei walked over to the bench, dumped her unopened coke and box of pocky in her duffel bag. While it was opened, she realized that she had clean clothes with her, but seeing her situation, she would rather walk back soppy wet then change in the park.

Izaya put on his shoes, and squirmed at the feeling of his wet socks squishing into the shoes. He picked up his jacket, and was about to put it on but he noticed Rei was bare shouldered and her dress was really hugging her torso tight.

"Here," he passed it along to her.

Rei immediately accepted it with a crafty smile. She pulled it on and began walking. Izaya stood, wondering what the smile meant. That's when it hit him: she planned the whole thing, so that she could have the dry jacket at the end.

Izaya chuckled and ran after her. His shoes making a very unpleasant sound, with each step he took. This was going to be a long walk back home.

* * *

><p>After getting back to the apartment, Rei immediately went for a shower. Having only one bathroom, Izaya had to wait for his turn. Instead he got out of his dripping clothes and changed into something dry and comfortable. He walked to his desk and flipped open the police databases, checking on updates on Rei: none.<p>

All the new updates have been on the tonight's incident. With all the hype about the headless rider, perhaps the police will overlook Rei's case for now. He shut his computer after hearing Rei leave the bathroom. She walked into the office in what looked like her pajamas – a pair of checkered pants and a large shirt.

"You can go now," she said, suppressing a yawn. "You've got a very nice place by the way, I didn't notice the last time I was here."

"Thanks," he smiled, and pointed to the second floor. "Your room is through there."

"Okay, thanks," Rei nodded and picked up her bag.

Izaya watched her leave, and turned to go into the bathroom. The room was full of steam from the last shower. Izaya took his clothes off and stepped into the shower.

XoXo

After his shower, Izaya dried his hair with a towel as he walked along the hall towards his bedroom. He stopped just outside of Rei's room, and listened in. He heard nothing, and carefully opened the door to take a peek. At further inspection he realized that she was asleep in bed, Izaya opened the door a little wider. He saw her discarded bag in a corner, and his semi-dry jacket folded on the nightstand.

Izaya walked in and took a closer look at Rei's sleeping form. Her features were relaxed and calm. This was nothing unusual, as she always keeps a passive face, but seeing her asleep and so vulnerable was a strange feeling. She turned around with a grumble, worrying him for a moment, but she fell straight back into deep sleep.

With one last look at Rei, Izaya made his way out and carefully shut the door behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>Yaaay! Two chapters in two days! And this time it's long! ... Or relatively long compared to the last one! :D I was gonna write up to 3k words but then I thought 'screw it'. Okay I'm tired and going to sleep now!<strong>

**Special thanks to:**

easily1994addicted– Hope this was soon enough for you! :D

Im-Ina-Tent– I'm glad you did! After spending hours on tumblr, I thought back to this story and was like 'right it's now or ever'. I was soo tempted to split this chapter after the big dollars thing but I thought naah. PLeaaase tell me what you think of their little development! :)

Le Wandom Stwanger – omgg! I'm like giggling reading your review! :) Thank you soo much! I'm super glad that you like her and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D


	12. The Dollars

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Twelve: The Dollars**_

* * *

><p>It was a really bad idea… pushing Izaya in the pond that is. Rei woke up at noon the next day and haven't stopped sneezing since. Surprisingly enough Izaya was perfectly fine, as he had to wait to take a shower after her. Izaya had confined her in her bedroom with a bottle of cough syrup because 'he didn't like sick people'; Rei rolled her eyes at that thought. Yeah right, he probably just had to meet clients and wanted her out of the way.<p>

At least Izaya wasn't as cruel as to leaving her with nothing, he had handed her one of his many laptops and briefly explained the organization called Dollars. Apparently all they do is chat online, which didn't seem too bad actually. Rei had spent her afternoon playing solitaire and going through forums on the Dollars website.

Rei's eyes darted through all the topics until she saw one that caught her interest: a forum on her.

_**[Has anyone heard of Nakata Rei? She lives in Ikebukuro, she has blonde hair and hazel eyes. She stopped going to school recently and the police have been looking for her.]**_

The replies all varied, some were genuinely concerned about the missing girl, while others weren't so nice. Looking through the replies, quite a few of them must have known Rei personally to have the knowledge of her being 'scary', 'crazy', or 'a bitch'.

Through the name Ren, she wrote a reply:

_**[I used to go to school with her, and she was such a bitch. I'm kind of glad she's gone.]**_

In no time there was a reply.

_**[How can you say that? She was your classmate right? She could be in danger!]**_

Rei rolled her eyes and typed back.

_**[Please, you didn't know her, and trust me you wouldn't want to.]**_

Rei minimized the screen and went back to playing solitaire. After winning another game, Rei went back to the forum and was surprised by all the replies.

_**[Nakata Rei is so scary. I saw her on the street once. She almost choked a street performer to death!]**_

_**[She never showed up to school anyway, why should it make a difference now?]**_

Rei chuckled at all the comments. She was about to close the window when the original poster of the forum made a reply.

_**[Please, if you're not going to help then just don't reply. My sister's been missing for the last few days and I'm really worried.]**_

Rei felt the colour drain from her face. It was Souichi that posted that? She didn't even know her brother was in the Dollars, but Izaya must have known. It took every bit of her willpower to stop herself from running out there demanding if he's responsible. Hastily, Rei wrote a reply:

_**[You should give up. What makes you think she wants to be found?]**_

_**[Look I don't care if you were one of Rei's classmates, but you have some nerve to tell me to stop looking for my sister.]**_

Somewhere deep down she felt slightly bad for worrying him so much, but she'd rather have him worry then go back. Without another thought, Rei clicked the window close and shut the laptop lid. It's already sunset, Izaya had to be done with his clients by now. Rei opened her door slightly and listened in.

"Well I'll be taking this then," she heard Izaya said.

"Do what you like with it," a woman replied passively. "I'm leaving now."

Rei tiptoed out and looked over the balcony just in time to see a dark haired young woman walk out. Rei recognized her from last night, she was the one speaking with Mikado before the phones started going. The woman looked up as well, the two stared at each other briefly as she walked out.

While the two were looking at each other, Izaya stuffed the head in a drawer with haste. Once Namie left, Rei looked back down at him.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"No one important," he replied with a smirk. "Get back in your room, I don't want to get sick."

"But I have some things I want to ask you!" Rei called across the room. "It's about Souichi!"

"Lower your voice, Rei-chan," Izaya chuckled. "I have something I have to do real quick, we'll talk over dinner."

"Who's cooking?" Rei asked.

"Can you?" he asked.

"No," Rei shook her head.

"Then we're ordering," Izaya picked up his phone. "Ramen? Sushi?"

"Ramen," she replied.

Izaya watched Rei go back in her room and dialed the hotline of the closet ramen store. He pushed the speaker button and waited. Izaya hummed along to the tone as he picked up the head from the drawer. He walked over to the jar and placed the head back in carefully.

"Mushi, mushi?" the line finally went through.

"Hello it's me," Izaya spoke as he held the jar in front of his face.

"Ah Orihara-san, the usual?" the voice asked.

"Yes, the usual, but make it two this time," Izaya said as he walked over to the bookshelf.

"Alright then, we won't be long."

"Thank you."

The line cut as Izaya placed the jar behind the books. Then he walked back over to his desk and pulled out a white surgical mask from a drawer.

"Rei-chan!" Izaya called. "The food is almost here!"

As soon as Rei entered the room, Izaya tossed the mask over at her. Rei just managed to catch it before it landed on the ground. She examined it in her hands and looked back up at him.

"What's this for?" she asked.

"You're sick," he said. "Don't come any closer until you put that on."

"Whatever," Rei rolled her eyes throwing the mask over her shoulder.

Izaya eyed her and rolled back on his chair slightly. Rei stared at him with a smug grin and feigned a cough. He winced and rolled back a bit more. She stood up and inched over step by step, with every step she took Izaya rolled back more.

Thankfully before Rei could get any closer, the doorbell rang.

"Could you please go get the food while I get my money, Rei-chan?" he asked, sounding almost too pleased.

"Yeah, sure," Rei glared at the door.

She slammed the door open and grabbed the two bags from the stunned delivery boy's hand. Izaya waited until she was out of the way before walking over to pay him. He sent the boy on his way and shut the door behind him.

Rei was busy fumbling through the bags in dining room. Each polystyrene container was opened set up with the disposable cutlery. She glanced back down at the two steaming bowls when an interesting idea came into mind. Rei sniveled slightly as she tried to get herself to sneeze.

"Don't you dare," Izaya said.

Rei looked up and saw Izaya standing by the door, still a good few meters away from her. She pouted with a cross of her arms and sat down in front of her bowl.

"Come on, the food's going to get cold," Rei looked over at him.

Izaya took a reluctant step forward. Rei groaned and pushed his bowl across the table right in front of him. He sat down thankfully and snapped his wooden chopsticks down the middle.

The two ate quietly for most of the time they were at the table, but Rei finished her food rather quickly having skipped both breakfast and lunch. Across the table, Izaya was just finishing up as sipped his soup.

"Hey Izaya?"

"Hm?" he looked up from his bowl.

"Do you think I should go home?" she looked up at him.

"No," Izaya looked at her strangely. "Why? Do you?"

"Well, no… not particularly," Rei shrugged. "But I was on the Dollars site, right?"

"Okay," he nodded.

"I found a forum on me… made by Souichi," Rei explained.

"…"

"You knew didn't you," Rei sighed. Izaya didn't reply. "Of coarse you knew. Were you the one that invited him to join?"

"Yes," Izaya crossed his arms.

"Why wasn't he there yesterday though?" she asked.

"I guess he had better things to do," Izaya smirked. "… Like looking for his little sister. You know I was actually hoping he'd show up."

"Stop trying to make me feel bad Izaya," she frowned distastefully. "That's below you."

"You're right," Izaya chuckled. "I'm sorry, Rei-chan. I should have guessed you wouldn't be bothered over a little taunting."

"Just how much do you know about me?" she asked resting her elbows on the table.

"… Well, let's see…" he recalled, thinking back to the information he gathered on Nakata Rei. "I have copies of all your medical records, therapy manuscripts, school records and all your official documents and records. I know that you're allergic to nuts, broke your leg twice, and had on-off therapy sessions for the last three years, dropped out of school twice but always went back a couple of weeks later, and you've recently been arrested."

"… And how did you find out all that?" she asked.

"Trust me," Izaya hid his smirk. "I have my ways."

"Don't act so smug," she rolled her eyes. "You haven't said anything about my parents yet."

"… Your parents?" he repeated.

"My mum more specifically," she tilted her head sideways.

"Your mother?" he almost frowned, he had no information on her apart from the fact that she's dead.

"Yes," she nodded. "What do you know about her?"

"She passed away in a car accident when you were four, and your brother was twelve," he replied immediately.

"I don't remember my mum that well," she admitted. "I was hoping you'd know something about her."

"I'm afraid not, Rei-chan," Izaya shook his head. "But perhaps I can look into it for you."

"I would like that," Rei nodded appreciatively.

"I don't usually give out information for free, Rei-chan," he said. "But for you, I'll make an exception."

"Why?" she asked with a smirk.

"Because this is also something I'm interested in personally."

* * *

><p><strong>Dunduunduuunn! A filler type chapter. I promise it'll get good the next one. And I don't know what's going on with Rei's mum, if anyone has any interesting ideas about her please send me a review or PM, cuz I'm literally making it up as I go along.<strong>

**And holy crap! 5.5K hits? That's flippin amazing! **

**And 8 reviews! That's the most I've gotten on a single chapter! :D**

**Once again a big thank you to all who favorited and alerted!**

**Special Thanks:**

Loreli Kaminari – Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! I wasn't sure if I should do it or not :P

Bree Renee – Gaah! You really think so? Thank you! :D This one's pretty boring but the next one it going to be better!

Princess Kitana18 – oh my god! Thank you! That means so much to me, you have no idea! Haha, yeah I was uploading pretty quickly over the easter break, wait til' summer I'll probably have new stuff every couple of days xD

Imitation Paranoid Marionette – Thank you! :D Yeah, you can expect some more future awksies shizuo-rei-izaya run ins xD

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FrozenDreamBox – omg, 'get Izaya's eskimo jacket', that is so perfect xD I hadn't thought of it as an eskimo jacket before, now I'll forever see Izaya as an eskimo xD Thank you for the review!

Evalyd Yamazaki – Thank you for your review! :)


	13. Losing One's Head

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Thirteen: Losing One's Head**_

* * *

><p>For the past two days, Rei had been holed up in her bedroom playing solitaire and checking the Dollars website. Even though she's gotten better Izaya still insisted on her staying inside until he's done meeting with his clients.<p>

The forum on her has gotten new replies throughout the days, many were still of people complaining about Rei and her odd behavior, but there were a few occasional genuinely worried individuals – which surprised her to ends. What had she done to earn their sympathy? No replies from Souichi, perhaps he really had given up.

"Rei-chan!" a knock came from the door.

"Yeah?"

Rei bounced off from her bed and opened the door.

"You can come out now," he smiled.

"Am I going to be stuck in my room everyday?" she asked, following after him. "I can't count how many times I've beat solitaire today."

"Well if you would prefer, you could go out and caught by the police" Izaya shrugged with smirk.

"Ha ha, no," she mocked flatly.

Izaya sat back down on his large office chair and began typing away on his computer again. Rei frowned slightly. Now that she was outside of her room, she didn't know what to do. In fact, she'd much rather be playing solitaire in her room right now than standing in Izaya's office mindlessly.

Rei wobbled across the room, and stopped in front of Izaya's vast bookshelves. She scanned through his shelf and sighed – there were all were thick encyclopedias.

'_How boring,' _she thought.

She picked one off the shelf and wiped the dust off the thick leather cover. The book was in English, Rei could make out a couple words but that was about it. The pictures were rather interesting though. She flipped the page and came across a rather morbid picture of the human skeleton. Rei shut the book and was about to place the book back into its place when she noticed something hidden behind the large volumes.

Izaya looked away from the screen when he heard a loud crash. He stood up and looked over to where Rei was. She had dropped an encyclopedia onto the floor. He rushed over and picked it off the ground.

"You all right, Rei-chan?" he asked examining the book.

"I-Is that-?" Rei's voice shook as she looked through the gap between the books. "Izaya-kun… you have a head in your bookshelf."

"I do," he nodded.

Rei began furiously pulling books out and pilling them in Izaya's arms. Izaya struggled with the heavy encyclopedias, and managed to place them on the ground. By the time he looked up, Rei already had the container in her hands. She was staring at the head unblinkingly.

"Is this her head?"

"Whose head?" he sat on the stack of books, resting an elbow on his knee.

"… Well we only know one headless person," Rei lowered the container and stared at him. "Is it her head?"

"Yes," Izaya replied.

"I'm guessing I can't tell her?" she eyed him.

"I would appreciate if you don't," Izaya smiled. "Plus its fun this way no? Watching her search for her head when we have it right here."

Rei couldn't quite understand what she felt. The word _'we'_ repeated in her head as she kept her gaze locked at Izaya. Are they really on such close terms that he would refer to them as we. Or perhaps he felt the need to emphasize that it's their secret… whatever the case, Rei liked it.

Izaya dropped his smile when he noticed that Rei had been staring at him skeptically and wordlessly. For a moment there Izaya thought she was going to freak out, but instead she grinned. Rei nodded as she lifted the cylinder jar back up to eye-level. Izaya can't help but smile, once again she had succeeded to surprise him.

"But I didn't expect her to be this pretty," Rei breathed.

"I can't tell," Izaya shrugged.

"How can you not?" she eyed him almost accusingly.

"I don't perceive the same way as normal people do," he replied. "Like you."

"But you should be able to recognize an attractive person, er- head," she corrected herself quickly.

Izaya eyed her indifferently.

"Well do you think I'm pretty?" she asked.

Izaya paused and thought. Did he think her attractive? He lifted his arms off his knees and took a good look at the girl in front of him. Rei was shorter than an average girl her age, but slightly slimmer. Her American roots shown through her blonde curls, and her eyes dark and piercing.

To a normal person, Rei would have been considered attractive. That's all Izaya had concluded from his observation. Which was not much to go on for himself, what did he think of her?

"Uh… you're not too terrible to look at," he chuckled uneasily.

"But not pretty?" she placed the jar back in its place.

"You're… better looking than most of the girls your age," he tried again. "… So yes, you're pretty."

Rei said nothing but smiled. Sure she's been told that before, but it doesn't hurt to hear it from Izaya. In fact, it was funny seeing him struggle with his words. Izaya noticed her satisfied smug little grin and decided to retaliate. He stood up from his book-chair and walked over.

"What about me?"

"What?" she looked at him strangely.

"Do you think I'm attractive?" he asked.

"You're okay," she shrugged. "Not too bad either."

Izaya frowned internally, how was she able to just brush it off like that as if it was no big deal? It took everything Izaya had inside to mumble out those couple of words before. He thought back to that moment when she held his hand, he felt the same way then.

What was this he was feeling? This damning feeling that made him feel so weak and dumbstruck. Izaya liked knowing things, being in control, and he felt the complete opposite when he speaks to Rei.

"Did I offend you or something?" she chuckled at his silence.

"No, not at all," he shook his head.

"Now that you're done, can we go out for dinner?" Rei asked.

"Sure," he looked up at her. "Where do you want to go?"

"Russian sushi!" Rei called a little too loudly.

"Alright then," Izaya chuckled with a nod.

XoXo

In an hour, Rei and Izaya were sat in a booth at Russian Sushi. Simon had taken their orders and had gone to fetch them drinks. Rei was flicking through menu nonchalantly while Izaya typed away on his phone.

"Izaya-kun…" she droned.

"Hm?" he looked up from the screen.

"What are you doing on your phone?" she asked.

"Work things," he replied.

"I thought you were done with work," she groaned.

"It's to do with your mother," Izaya flipped his phone shut. "I may be able to find out more about her soon."

"Really?" Rei lightened up. "That's great!"

Izaya nodded back with a smile and put his phone away. Negotiations were going well so far, but it was taking a lot of time and money to get information out of the contacts. Even finding the right people to speak to is taking a long while. Whatever happened to Rei's mother, a lot of effort had been put to make sure no one found out.

"Ah Izaya, long time no see."

Rei looked up and saw a familiar looking man. If she's correct then he was at the large Dollars gathering. He acknowledged her by glancing at her with those beady eyes hiding just under his bandana.

"Ah Dota-chin!" Izaya greeted. "Getting dinner for the gang?"

"Yeah," Kadota shrugged, holding up a plastic bag of takeaway. "Who's this?"

"I'm Nakata Rei," she spoke up. "Nice to meet you Dota-chin."

"You too," he nodded back. "And don't call me that, I have a name and it's Kyohei Kadota."

"But if Izaya calls you Dota-chin why can't I?" Rei pouted.

"… Oh whatever, call me what you like," Kadota sighed, throwing Izaya a dirty glance. "Anyway, I should get going. Bye Izaya, and it's nice meeting you Rei."

"Bye Dota-chin!" the two called after him simultaneously.

Kadota scowled back at the two as he left the store. Looks like Izaya had made an interesting friend. Nakata Rei, the name sounded familiar too. He remembered coming across the name while scrolling through the forums on the Dollars website. But at this moment, he couldn't be sure what he had read about her, he'd have to go back and check.

"Wasn't he at the Dollars gathering?" Rei asked after he left.

"Yeah, he's a member too," Izaya nodded back.

"How do you know him?"

"We went to school together," Izaya replied.

"Really?" Rei exclaimed. "Did you also go to school with Shinra?"

"Yeah, middle school and high school," Izaya smiled.

"And Shizuo-san?" her eyes lit up noticeably.

"… Yes him too," his smile dropped. "We all went to Raira together."

"Was it as boring before as it is now?" she asked.

"Pretty much," Izaya chuckled. "But I kept it interesting."

"I'm sure you did," Rei smiled. "I imagine it had something to do with Shizuo-san?"

"Can we please stop talking about Shizu-chan?" Izaya sighed.

"Okay then… jeez," Rei rolled her eyes. "I was just curious."

"… Well school wasn't all that interesting for me," he continued after giving it some thought. "I had a lot of little projects along the side, and many did include Shizu-chan."

"No doubt," Rei chuckled.

Simon returned to their table with their orders and tea.

"Here you are," Simon placed down the sushi.

Izaya smiled and mumbled a few words in what Rei presumed to be Russian. Simon spoke back in the same dialect, saying much more than he would if he spoke in Japanese.

Rei just sat there baffled by their exchange. Simon ended their conversation with a loud grunt and left the table.

"You know because I can speak Russian," Rei shrugged sarcastically, picking up her chopsticks.

Izaya laughed and quickly apologized.

"It's not important anyway," Izaya reassured her.

Rei was unconvinced, but shook the thought out of her head. Right now she should concentrate on her food.

"This is really nice sushi," Rei said. "I wonder why it's always so empty in here."

"Well I think it has something to do with Simon," Izaya replied.

"Why? He's awesome!" Rei grinned.

"Not many people see it that way," Izaya explained.

"Well other people are lame," she sighed. "I wish everyone would think like us."

"Like how?" he asked.

"Crazily," she placed her chopsticks down.

"I think it's a matter of they couldn't even if they wanted to than they wouldn't," Izaya chuckled again.

"True," she nodded. "My brother always said I was born special."

"That's what my mother would say about me when I was younger and got into trouble," Izaya smiled.

"I think she was trying to imply that you were mad without giving it away to younger you," she grinned.

"Yes I can see where you're coming from," Izaya took a sip from his tea.

"Something similar happened to be when I was in primary school," Rei recalled. "We were having one of those bring your pet in for show and tell things, and I've never had a pet so it kinda sucked. So at the back of the classroom were cages full of animals, and I noticed a fish bowl next to a hamster cage."

Rei stopped speaking and pulled her glass of tea forward symbolizing the fish bowl, and then a plate as the cage. She placed them right next to each other and had turned the sushi horizontal to face so its tip was facing the tea.

"And basically, during break time I stayed behind and watched them," Rei continued, picking up the sushi from the dish. "It was weird because they were staring at each other the whole time, the fish and the hamster. I thought they probably wanted to be friends, so I picked up the hamster from its cage and dumped it in the fish bowl."

With that last sentence, Rei dropped the sushi into her tea. The splash caused the tea to spill onto the table. Izaya watched, intrigued.

"Why not put the fish in the cage?" Izaya asked.

"And get my hands wet? No thank you," she snorted. He can't help but smile. "But yeah, needless to say I drowned the hamster… by accident though and it was one of those rare occasions when my father was in Japan. So when he got called to school about the incident, he apologized and explained I had a special condition. Then they let me off as long as I apologized to the kid with the fish for traumatizing him or something and the kid with the hamster for… well drowning her hamster."

"Well, being a psycho does have it's perks," Izaya chuckled.

"I always thought it was one of those get-out-of-jail-free cards," she shrugged, taking a quick sip from her tea, paying no mind to the sushi floating in her cup. "Anyways, I'm done."

"Yeah, me too."

Izaya's phone buzzed at that moment, and she shot him a stern look.

"Would you go pay the bill Rei-chan?" Izaya asked handing her a few bills. "Please?"

"Sure," she sighed.

Rei sauntered over to the cash register and threw the wad of bills over at the boy tending the register. She turned right around on her heels and walked back over to their table.

"Wait! Your change!"

"Izaya doesn't deserve his change!" Rei called back.

By the time Rei sat back down, Izaya was just finished with his phone call. He flipped his phone shut and looked at Rei expectantly.

"What?" she snapped.

"I gave you quite a large amount of money…" he sighed.

"And…"

"Was there no change?"

"None at all," she shrugged back.

"… If you say so," Izaya smirked. "And I just got off the phone with a contact."

"Oh?"

"Later this week I'll be receiving some information about your mother," Izaya informed.

"Seriously?" Rei exclaimed. "Who are you going to see?"

"I've never met them before," Izaya replied. "But they sure were hard to find."

"Can I come with?" Rei asked.

"Are you sure?" Izaya smile faltered. "I haven't met them before, I'm not sure what kind of people they are."

"Well they can't be too bad if they agreed to meet you right?" Rei insisted. "Please, I won't be a bother."

"Alright then," Izaya smile returned. "Let's go back home now."

Rei nodded in agreement and the two headed for the door. Izaya stopped mid-step when he noticed Rei back at the cash register. She spoke a few soft words to the cashier and returned with a smile. Rei held her hand out, smile still intact. Izaya reached his hand out, Rei dropped a pile of money onto his palm.

"I think you've earned your change," Rei smiled. "Let's go!"

Rei skipped off ahead, leaving Izaya behind and staring at the money he had just received. That feeling came back again. The strange feeling he didn't quite understand.

"Come on!"

Izaya shook slightly and stuffed the change in his pocket. He turned and followed after Rei who was calling over her shoulder.

XoXo

That night Rei laid awake in her bed. She was finally going to learn more about her mother. Her father and brother never spoke about her late mother, and when she brought it up they'd shut down completely.

Rei always thought about how differently she would have grown up with a mother figure. She was practically raised by maids under the orders of her father, and Rei was a difficult child to handle so they'd never last very long before they quit. Maybe with a resolute mother, Rei could have…

Could have what?

Been _normal_?

Grown up to be boring?

Like everyone else?

'_That's ridiculous.'_

Okay, so maybe Rei liked how she ended up, but her childhood had been tough without a mother. Open days at school had always been tedious, when her father was busy with work and no one would show up. The kids would always pester on about how her parents never came.

Rei sighed after giving it more thought. There was nothing she could do about it now. She can't change what has already happened, so she might as well look forward to learning more about her mother. Maybe she'll find out why her family has always been so adamant when asked of her. With that resolve in mind, Rei settled down into her pillow.

* * *

><p><strong>Jeez! That took way longer than I thought. Sorry for such a long wait! Been busy with exams and all :S But I have an early summer so I can start writing again :D<strong>

**Thank you to everyone who favorited and alerted! :)**

**Special thanks to:**

QueenOfCrazy – Oh my god! Haha, I hope you didn't get into any trouble! I'm glad you like the story! I'm sorry this took so long! I already got ideas for the next chapter so I should be updating soon! I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Evalyd Yamazaki – Thank you! :D I'm glad you liked it! :D Rei's going to be leaving Izaya's care somewhere in the upcoming chapters… Just wait and see! :)

Imitation Paranoid Marionette – Really? How so? I don't really know what I'm doing with Rei :P She's very difficult for me to write since even I don't know how she should react to situations… I've got some ideas to where the story's going but nothing set yet… I guess I'm just going to make it up as I go along xD And thanks for your review! :)

SilverDragon13 – Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)

chibibunny7 – Your English is really good! I understood everything you said :) And thank you! :)


	14. A Broken Queen

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Fourteen: A Broken Queen**_

* * *

><p>"What are you doing, Izaya-kun~?"<p>

"Hm?"

Izaya looked up and found Rei propped on his head staring at his computer screen. Her hands rested on his dark locks and looked straight ahead, concentrated on the chat room displayed on Izaya's monitor.

"Working," he looked up at her.

"Liar, you're just chatting online," she rolled her eyes.

"Trust me, it counts towards the cause," Izaya chuckled.

'_Cause?'_

Before she can ask anything, he twirled his chair around causing Rei to stumble backwards slightly.

"And what are you doing still up?" Izaya stood up. "Go to bed, we have to go see the contact tomorrow."

"But I can't…" she grumbled, lounging on the sofa. "There are too many things on my mind…"

"Things like?" he asked.

"Mum," she shrugged. "Dad… Souichi…"

"Are you finally feeling bad about running away?" he wondered with a sly smile.

Rei looked up and scowled at the man by the table.

"Stop it," she groaned. "I don't feel bad about leaving… I'm just confused."

"About what?"

"… Do you think I'm a bad person?"

"No," he chuckled. "You're one of the most interesting people I have ever met."

"But that doesn't mean I'm good," she scoffed. "I've been checking the forums regularly… and I just don't understand why people care so much."

Izaya's smile dropped as he listened to her.

"All I've ever done is cause trouble," she carried on. "I've never once thought about others, so what gives? Why do people want to help find me so bad?"

"… Some people don't need a reason to care," Izaya sighed. "I guess those are what you would call the 'good' people."

"…" Rei rolled onto her side, facing the leather backrest. "I think they're stupid… they should just leave me alone."

"You're tired Rei-chan," Izaya walked over. "You should go get some rest."

"Yeah, yeah," she hopped off the sofa and headed upstairs.

Izaya watched her go, after she disappeared into her room he took a deep breath and sat back down. Unsure of what to think of Rei's previous statements, he continued typing into the chat box.

PAGEBREAK

Maybe asking to come wasn't such a good idea. Rei was following Izaya towards an abandoned warehouse. The surroundings were unsettlingly silent and still, Rei couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched. At least they were meeting during the day and not when it's dark.

"Who exactly are we going to see?" Rei asked.

"Like I said yesterday, I've never met them," Izaya murmured back. "They arrived in Japan just last night. We'll see when we get there."

"Where are they from?" Rei persisted.

"America."

The two stopped in front of the large rusted door leading to the warehouse. Izaya reached towards the handle slowly while turning his head to look at Rei.

"Once we're inside just let me do the talking," Izaya whispered as he looked her in the eye.

Rei nodded wordlessly and Izaya smiled. The door was pushed open and they walked into a dark corridor. She followed Izaya down the eerie hall. Finally after awhile of walking, they reached a lit room.

A man sat on a wooden crate, he stood up when the two entered. Surrounding him were two armed men. Neither looked too friendly. The man frowned when he saw that Izaya wasn't alone.

"**Who's the girl?" **

Rei didn't understand as he spoke in English, but understood that his question was directed at her when his gaze landed on her. His dark eyes were fixed on Rei. She gulped involuntarily and hid behind Izaya, shaking under the man's scrutinizing gaze.

"**My business partner,"** Izaya smiled, reaching into his coat pocket. **"Do you have the information?"**

"**Yes,"** the man held out a paper folder. **"And mine?"**

"**Of course,"** Izaya pulled out a small envelope from his coat.

Izaya handed the envelope over for him to verify, and in return the man handed the folder over. Izaya unhooked the strings and peeked inside. Before Rei could see anything he closed the folder back up.

"**Any problems?"** Izaya asked.

"**No, everything looks to be in order,"** he replied, placing the envelope in his briefcase. **"I'll be going then. Nice doing business with you Mister Orihara."**

"**Yes, you too."**

The man made a move to leave first, and headed for the corridor. The two men followed out obediently and wordlessly. Rei held her breath until they were out of sight.

"What did he want in return?" Rei asked.

"Information for information," Izaya shrugged. "Nothing big, just a list of buyers."

"What did he give you?" Rei eyed the folder.

"A file and a tape," Izaya replied.

"A file and a tape…" Rei repeated. "Let's go then. I've had enough waiting."

* * *

><p>Rei shifted uncomfortably as she stared at the daunting folder laid the table in front of her. She hadn't noticed when Izaya returned with a cassette player. Only when he placed it down onto the table did she look up.<p>

"You actually have a cassette player?" she smirked.

"Took me quite a while to find it," Izaya shrugged. "Do you want to listen to the tape first?"

"No," she shook her head. "I'll look the papers first."

"Alright," he sat down next to her.

Rei pulled out a stack of papers from the folder and skimmed through them. There were a couple of colourful pamphlets in there for some sort of exhibition. Once again it was in English and Rei couldn't make it out.

"Can you translate this for me?" she looked up Izaya.

"Sure," she passed the papers to him.

He read through the sheets and his eyes widened curiously. Rei held her breath as he turned to her.

"First couple of pages are just public records," Izaya replied.

Rei took the time to translate every sentence on the first couple of pages to her. Nothing Rei didn't already know about her mother. All were just information about her mother's health records, schools, jobs.

Izaya stopped speaking after the next page, Rei frowned and nudged in closer also looking at the piece of paper. This one was different from the others, there were red letters covering the whole page and the black print looked more unrefined than the public records.

"What does it say?" she demanded.

"… It says here that your mother was murdered."

"What?" she exclaimed. "That's not possible… my dad told me that-."

"Well your family lied to you," Izaya said before she can finish.

Rei frowned at him but said nothing. Izaya carried on reading while she picked up a pamphlet and flicked through it. There was a picture of her father with his research team on one of the pages. It looks like her father's company was to be part of the exhibition.

"Your father's company produces a specific type of medical equipmennt amongst all the basics right?" Izaya inquired.

"Yeah, I think it's meant to be one of those radiation therapy machines, but ten times more precise than the one before it," Rei shrugged.

Izaya picked the pamphlet out of Rei's hand and flicked through it. He stopped and the page with her father and held it out to her.

"Here, this says that at the exhibition there will be a big announcement from Nakata Daichi that will change the medical field," Izaya ran his index finger along the bold letters. "And here on the paper, it says that Taylor Medical Corp. was a large competitor against your father's company ten years ago. Mister Zach Taylor was concerned over your father's new device, and the impact it'll have on his own business. So he had your mother kidnapped and held hostage."

"What did he want?"

"For your father to withdraw his announcement, and for them to announce it as a joint research."

"… And then?"

"It doesn't say much here, but I'm guessing negotiations didn't go as planned," Izaya replied. "Anne Robinson-Nakata was killed."

"What happened to Zach Taylor?"

"Arrested and his company collapsed after Taylor was given a life sentence," Izaya carried on reading. "Your mother's death has been publicized as heart failure."

Rei was speechless. This was a strange feeling she was feeling. After all that waiting this was what had happened? Her family had lied to her about this incident, not just to her but they had lied to everyone about this incident. Though she didn't know her mother, she didn't deserve this.

"This was probably for the best though," Izaya sighed, putting the papers back into the paper folder. "I mean, I'm not sure what happened with the negotiations but your father's business boomed after Taylor's downfall."

Rei's teeth clenched together and her fists curled tightly.

"Your father's company could have been in trouble if Taylor Medical Corp. kept on expanding," Izaya noted, unaware of Rei watching him coldly.

"Izaya?"

"Hm?"

Rei stood up from her seat, she stood right in front of the man. Izaya looked up, surprised by her suddenness.

"What's wro-."

Izaya never got to finish his sentence as she had thrown her fist against his cheek. He yelped slightly and held his swollen face. For a girl her sized, Rei could pack a heavy punch. She gathered the papers and tape into the folder quickly and headed upstairs without another word.

"Wha? Rei-chan?" Izaya called after her.

The only reply he got was a door slam.

XoXo

Rei threw the folder onto her pillow and crashed onto her bed.

'_Screw him.'_

'_Screw Izaya.'_

He had no idea what it was like growing up without a mother and with a father that was never there. Up until Souichi graduated, she was taken care by maids after maids. Rei didn't have anyone when she got her first cramps, or when she needed to buy her first bra.

Rei scowled at the ceiling and squeezed her eyes shut.

'_Don't cry.'_

'_Don't cry.'_

'_I'm not going to cry.'_

"I'm not going to cry… I'm not going to cry…" she chanted over and over again.

After the twelfth time, she opened her eyes and sat up. Teary eyes from before now dry. She grabbed the folder and headed for her duffel bag.

PAGEBREAK

That night Izaya woke up after hearing a loud crash coming from downstairs. A burglar? No, not possible. Not with the locks installed. Izaya sighed slightly and crawled out of bed. He walked out and scanned over the balcony, nothing seemed out of place. Looking left, he saw that the guest bedroom's door was wide open.

"… Rei-chan?"

Izaya ran into the open bedroom and found it was empty. Bed was made and looked untouched, as if no one has been in the room recently. The familiar duffel bag that laid on the ground was gone as well. Izaya ran back outside and down the stairs, nothing looked out of place as he walked around.

_-Crack-_

Izaya looked down and lifted his foot. He realized that he has stepped on a chess piece. And not just any piece, it was the black queen. After further inspection he realized that all the pieces have been scattered on the floor. This must have been what caused the crash: someone knocking over his board, and that someone being none other than Rei-chan.

He bent over and picked up the chess piece and examined it. The wood was chipped from when it was dropped.

'_She left…' _he thought blankly. _'And she stole my laptop.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Dundunduuuun…! <strong>

**Sooo Izaya screwed up a bit didn't he? xD **

**I apologize for the medical stuff, I'm so terrible at science… lets hope its right :P**

**Once again I hope readers enjoy this chapter and thanks to those who favorited and alerted! :)**

**And holy craap! 8k hits…. That's really, really incredible! I want to thank everyone that has been reading this story! Seriously! This really makes my day :')**

**Special thanks to:**

Evalyd Yamazak – Seriously? That's really great to hear! Thank you! :) I have more free time to write now since its summer, so I'm hoping to update quicker! :D

Alexandria Volturi – Haha, thank you! I'm glad you like the story! :)

ILoveReadingAndWriting – Loyal fan? Oh my goodness! Thank you Mari! :D I'm glad you liked it! And I hope you like this chapter as well! :)

Theophania – Wow, seriously? That means a lot to me! Thank you so so much! :) And I do admit, not every story on here is good, but there are a few that are really amazing! You should keep browsing and searching, eventually you'll find the good ones :D

insane sunflower2383 – Thank you so much for your review! :)


	15. Divulged

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Fifteen: Divulged**_

* * *

><p>"Thank you for coming Namie-san."<p>

Namie scowled at the way he addressed her, refusing to return the handshake she sat down in front of the two men without word.A waiter scooted over and poured her a glass of water.

"Is everything in order Nakata-san?"

"Yes, thank you," Daichi nodded at the boy with a smile. "We'll order when we're ready."

"Of coarse," the waiter then left the room.

Daichi picked up his menu first and scanned through the dishes listed, occasionally tapping on the table as he pondered on what to order. This irritated Namie to no ends, she looked up and eyed the young man sitting next to his father. He has made no move to pick up the menu set in front of him, instead he's been glaring at his phone since she walked in.

'_How rude' _

Namie rolled her eyes.

"Now Namie-san, are you just going to sit there rolling your eyes all night or are you going to order something?" Daichi asked, his voice sarcastic, a direct taunt at her.

"I am not here to dine," her eyes narrowed in on the older man. "If we're going to negotiate then we'll speak."

"After I've gone through the effort to book out the whole restaurant?" Daichi lifted an arm, and waved at their empty surroundings. "That would be rather rude of you wouldn't it, Namie-san?"

Namie bit back a snide comment and picked up the menu laying in front her. Though she had not met the Nakatas before, she had heard stories of young Daichi Nakata who singlehandedly grew a medical empire in the US. Before she would have admitted she had some shed of respect for them, but now actually meeting them she concluded that she did not like the Nakatas at all.

"Souichi, please put your phone down," Daichi voiced, not a question.

"But father-."

"You're being rude to our guest."

Souichi looked up and eyed the woman distastefully. He took a deep breath and placed his phone on the table, the screen facing downwards. Then he picked up the menu and began choosing from the selections.

"I'm ready to order," Souichi put down his menu after a couple of minutes.

"As am I," Daichi nodded, closing his menu. "And you, Namie-san?"

"Yes, me too."

Daichi called for the waiter, and in no time was the same young boy back at the table. Pen and notepad at the ready. Daichi recited his order and Souichi followed after him. After the two Namie gave the waiter her orders. The waiter jotted everything down and repeated back for confirmation.

"Yes, off you go now."

The waiter hurried along back into the kitchen.

"So I heard that your company hasn't been doing too well these past months," Daichi stated, reaching for his glass. "Terrible, in fact."

Namie bit her tongue. There it is again, his damning forwardness.

"Yes," she nodded back slowly. "We have suffered large losses over the months… but nothing we can't make up for." She added quickly.

"I'm sure," Daichi smiled knowingly.

The young woman gave the man a defensive glare, her glare averted to the young man across from her. Daichi noticed her eyes shift and looked down at Souichi who was on his phone again.

"Souichi, will you put that away?" Daichi demanded.

"But what if they find something on Rei?" Souichi asked.

"Rei is not a little girl anymore," Daichi hissed under his breath. "She can take care of herself. It hasn't been the first time she's gone."

"It's different this time," Souichi snapped. "Yagiri-san, I apologize for my abruptness but have you heard that my sister's gone missing?"

'_Not so rude after all…'_

"No I haven't," Namie crossed her arms. "I didn't even know you had a sister."

"She's has blonde curly hair and dark eyes," Souichi clicked on his phone again. "Here!"

The young man pulled out a picture of Rei's first day at Raira, she was in her uniform and smiling. The first thing Namie noticed was that the Nakata girl went to the same school as her little brother. Perhaps he knew about her. The second thing was that she did in fact look familiar.

Namie looked into Souichi's desperate unmoving eyes momentarily before closing her eyes.

'_Not rude at all…' _Namie thought. _'Just deeply concerned.'_

"I haven't seen her," Namie shrugged back, deciding against voicing out, as she still doubts if she has seen the girl before.

"Souichi, I have had enough," Daichi cleared his throat. "If you're going to keep pestering our guest then please leave."

Souichi stood up right away, and without a second glance back he left the restaurant. Daichi sighed and rubbed his forehead. Namie looked after him with an indifferent look in her eyes.

At that moment, the waiter walked in with the food. Unfazed by a missing person, he placed down the food of the people present on the table. Daichi waved the man off and picked up his cutlery.

"Your son cares a lot about your daughter," Namie commented, almost sounding understanding as she rolled her pasta.

"Sometimes I think a bit too much," Daichi frowned, cutting his steak. "I'm always telling him to get married, but he never listens. What do you think about him, Namie-san? A fine lad isn't he? Would you like to marry my son?"

"No, thank you," Namie replied calmly, taking a bite of her food.

"Pity," Daichi shrugged with a lift of his brows. "If you had accepted then my next question wouldn't be as unpleasant."

Namie eyed the man warily, though he was old he had already caught her off guard twice. And it was very difficult to catch her off guard.

"How much?" he finally asked.

"E-excuse me?" she stammered.

"How much for your company," Daichi clarified. "And please don't ask for a ridiculous amount. We both know that your company isn't worth anything anymore."

"But I thought you only wanted a part of the company," Namie exclaimed. "I can't sell my whole company to you!"

"I've changed my mind."

"When? You've asked me to come here just two days ago claiming to be interested in buying a part of my company."

"I decided just now."

'_This man!' _Namie frowned.

"Two billion," she finally said after giving some thought.

"Please," Daichi scoffed. "One billion."

"My company is worth more than one billion, Nakata-san," Namie glared at him.

"And my company supplies medical machinery and medicine to the whole US," Daichi retorted. "By purchasing your little company, I'll be able to branch out into Japan. And by doing so, I'll finally be able to move back to Japan after working in America all my life."

"So you're buying my company on a whim?" she snarled.

"Yes, if you would put it so crudely," Daichi replied. "So what's your decision, Namie-san?"

"I refuse," she crossed her arms.

"Oh? Are you so sure? I doubt there will be any other buyers that'll pay what you're asking," Daichi smiled. "With one billion you would be able to settle down for a few good lengthy years before having to work again."

"…" Namie narrowed her gaze at the man.

"I hear you have to support your little brother too," Daichi's smile turned into a smirk. "I wonder how long it'll last until your company finally goes bankrupt… how terrible that would be. I have two kids myself, I understand how important the developing years are for a child."

"Fine!" Namie agreed reluctantly. "One billion it is."

'_Well played, old man.'_

"Excellent," Daichi nodded in approval. "My lawyer will come by with a contract prepared in a few days time."

"If that's it, then I'll be leaving first," Namie stood up.

Daichi looked over and saw that she has finished her food already.

"No dessert, Namie-san?" Daichi asked. "I'm sure that must have been rather unpleasant for you."

"No, thank you."

Namie tucked her chair in and headed for the door. Daici returned his full attention to his meal now that he had acquired Yagiri Pharmaceuticals.

"I remembered something," Namie returned to the table. "Tell your son that I have seen your daughter somewhere recently."

"Oh?" Daichi wiped his mouth with a napkin. "This should be interesting."

"I saw her a few days ago at Orihara Izaya's office," Namie said. "He's an information broker that lives in Shinjuku."

"Yes I have heard of him," Daichi nodded, disquieted by this new knowledge. "He's not one to be messed with."

"I agree."

"I shall relay the message to him," Daichi replied. "I thank you for your helpfulness."

"Think nothing of it," Namie said as she left.

* * *

><p>Souchi grumbled slightly as he slammed the car door shut. He understood that this business deal was meant a lot to his father, but how could he choose work over his own daughter?<p>

Walking into the house, he noticed a pair of flats lying messily by the door. Souichi immediately recognized them as his sister's. He ran through the house, searching for her and checking upstairs, he found her sitting on her bed with a laptop open in front of her.

"Rei?" he took a step into the room unsurely.

"Hey aniki," Rei greeted. "Do we have wifi?"

Souichi's mouth went dry as he watched Rei look back at him oddly. Too long has this room been empty, and now there she was. Back as if nothing had happened.

"Rei… where have you been?"

"I got lost," she replied, turning back to the screen.

"What do you mean?" he sat down next to her, he glanced over at the screen and saw she was only playing solitaire.

"I got lost," she repeated with a shrug. "Don't worry, I'm back now. Where's dad?"

"He's at a business dinner… but Rei, you can't just leave like that," Souichi said. "I was so worried, _dad_ was to so worried. When the police couldn't find you I even resorted to calling Orihara-san."

"What?"

"You shouldn't run off like-."

"Not that, you spoke to Izaya?" she closed the laptop lid. "What did he say?"

"He just told me he'll do everything he can," Souichi disregarded. "Where did you stay? I saw you with the Black Biker, you better not have been with with him. There's been some nasty stuff about him on the news recently."

"Firstly, it's a she," Rei rolled her eyes. "Secondly, she's really nice, she let me stay with her and her boyfriend. They've been more of parents to me than mine have ever been. Speaking of which, how did mum die?"

"…"

Souichi sat up straighter as he tried to process everything she had just said. The Black Biker is in fact a she, and his little sister has been staying with the Black Biker and her boyfriend. She obviously thinks highly of the two as she went as far to include their father in her argument. And now she wants to know about their mother…

"She died in a-."

"I found out the truth," her eyes narrowed in on him. "Don't lie to me anymore, I want to hear it from you."

"Rei, what are you talking about?" Souichi faked a smile.

Rei said nothing and locked kept her gaze locked with his. Since when did his sister get so scary? His smile faltered and he let out a sigh. She said she knew already, so why keep it a secret?

"… Mum was killed by a man named Zach Taylor," Souichi spoke uneasily. "He's in prison now and will be for life. Dad wasn't able to meet Taylor's demands… and so… well yeah, now mum's dead."

"I don't understand why you didn't just tell me sooner," Rei stood up.

"Rei, you had to grow up without mum," Souichi shook his head. "Wouldn't it be more painful for you if you had known?"

Rei shifted slightly on the spot.

"Do we have wifi?" she asked.

"We do," Souichi nodded. "Password's our family name."

"Right okay," she picked up the laptop and opened the lid.

"Where did you get the laptop?" he asked.

"I found it."

"You expect me to believe you just found a laptop lying on the street?"

"Believe me or not," she shrugged, walking over to the door. "But that's what happened."

With laptop still in hands, she kicked the door open and tilted her head towards the corridor.

"Out."

"But I still have-."

"Please, go. I need some time to think things through."

Without another word, Souichi stood up and left the room. Rei kicked the door shut and walked over to her bed. Now that she could finally go online, she could check the Dollars forums again.

**XoXo**

Daichi returned home that night and found his soon typing away on his laptop avidly. He picked up his own laptop and prepared to write an email to his lawyer. Sitting opposite his son, Daichi opened his laptop and began clicking and typing.

"The deal with Yagiri Pharmaceuticals went well," Daichi hummed.

"That's great, but dad, guess what?" Souichi looked up.

"Hm?"

"Rei's back," he exclaimed. "She's upstairs right now."

"Really?" Daichi watched his son nod rapidly.

This was very curious. Daichi thought back to what Namie had said about his daughter and Orihara Izaya. There could be a possibility that she had been lying, though he doubted it, a defeated woman such as she was is not capable of telling such a lie.

That would mean something must have happened between Rei and this information broker.

"And she also asked about mum…" Souichi informed, sounding less excited. "She found out somehow and made me say it at loud."

That's it! If Orihara Izaya's reputation about his accuracy and efficiency was correct, then that must mean that Rei had found out about Anne from him.

"Dad?"

"Yes, yes," Daichi nodded. "It's late, I'll speak to Rei tomorrow."

'_But not before I make an appointment with Orihara Izaya-san.'_

* * *

><p>Izaya rubbed the side of his cheek as he tried to place all the pieces back into its correct positions on the board. He sat back on his chair and evaluated his work, everything looked to be in place, well more or less. Reaching forward, he picked up the black queen and held it closer to examine the small crack.<p>

"Oh Rei…" he sighed.

Not only did she get angry with him, but now she's gone too. That girl seemed to live life through whims. Maybe it's meant to be. Meeting someone as interesting as Nakata Rei seemed too good to be true, perhaps two people like themselves were never meant to be.

Izaya yawned wearily and then clicked the light off. Arriving in his bedroom, he collapsed onto the bed, after a short moment of silence he reached towards his nightstand and placed the chess piece down. Even in the darkness, he was able to make out faintly the outline of the queen. His gaze lingered before falling into deep slumber.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for slow updates, I was feeling kinda stuck with this story so I started a new one. If anyone's a fan a One Piece, I have a Trafalgar LawOC story please have a look on my profile :)**

**I also kinda had an epiphany earlier today, finally know where the story is going (sorta, more or less :P). But lets hope that means I'll be able to write more :D**

**And I got 11 reviews on my last chapter, wooow~ I'm pretty sure it's just because I've been updating crazy slow but, wooowwwww~ seriously, thanks guys!**

**Also thanks to everyone who favorited and alerted :)**

**Special thanks to:**

SilverDragon13 – Thank you! I'm really glad you like it! :)

insane sunflower2383 – Haha, I'm sorry it took me a while! Your review made me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside, thank you! :)

animelover1990 – Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D

Alexandria Volturi – Yeah, I've been plotting that little punch for a while now… I see it as something to uh… well make him realize his feelings for her or something (I'm trying to sound smart here :P), you know seeing as he's all weird and in denial about his- (oh god I'm just going to stop here:P). Thank you so much for your review! :)

Chie-Shire-Cat17 – Yeah! Cuz Rei likes to steal things from him and destroy his precious little board game thing! Thank you! I'm glad you like it! :D

OneHellOvaWriter – Yesss! I have a whole lotta stuff planed :D Thank you :)

Chuu112 – Thanks again for your review! :D

Yuki-shi-chan – He wont miss it :P Thanks for the review! :)

ILoveReadingAndWriting – Mari! :) Well I hoped the last bit of this chapter kinda helped answer that (as well as the other reply), she punched him cuz she got pissed and all (you know Rei, always a little bit on the violent side even with her soulmate izaya :P). but I also wanted it to serve as a wake up call sort of thing to Izaya, have him realize his feelings for her… but now it's a bit late cuz she's all angry at him and gone… Okay, my explanations really suck! But you get the idea :P Once again thanks for your review Mari! I'm really looking forward to your next one :)

BB's Apprentice – Stalking? xD I think it's strange that I feel happy that my story is being stalked :P Thank you! I know it came a bit slow but it's up now! :D

Phantasm Princess – You guessed right! Rei is finally back home! Though initially I didn't want her to go home just yet as I had an idea but I decided that I'll save that idea for later :P Thank you for your review! :D


	16. Brother

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Sixteen: Brother**_

* * *

><p>Once again Rei found herself walking into her school under the questioning gazes of her pupils. No doubt there must have been rumors circulating around to why she hasn't been in school for the past few weeks.<p>

"_I heard she died."_

"_Really? I thought she got arrested, that's why the police were looking for her before."_

"_Whoa, seriously?"_

"_Yeah, but her family was rich enough to strike a deal with the cops."_

"_That's crazy…"_

Rei glowered under the unwanted attention she was receiving. All this just made her want to leave school even more. It's not as if she did anything meaningful here anyway, in fact, she has hardly shown up since the academic year began. If it weren't for her father, she wouldn't even bother coming in, it's a real wonder to why the school hadn't spoken to her about it yet. Her first guess would be her father has bribed the school, all for the sake of keeping up appearances.

Appearances.

Something that Rei never quiet understood the significance of. What if someone thought ill about your family? What if others hated you? It shouldn't make a difference as long as you kept a clear head.

"Rei-chan?"

Rei looked up from her desk.

"Good morning Kida-kun."

"Oh! You've been away for far too long!" he exclaimed. "It feels like years have passed every time I see you!"

"Is that so?" Rei smiled.

"Where have you been all this time?" he asked.

"Wasting time," she sighed.

"What?" Kida pulled a seat in front of her.

"No, it's nothing."

"Could it be, you ran off with a man?" Kida threw a hand over his face. "Did he break your heart? Tell me the name of the fiend!"

"Would you kill him for me?" Rei grinned.

"Of coarse! Anyone who dared to hurt my precious Rei-chan!" Kida nodded.

"What if I said it was Heiwajima Shizuo?"

"…" Kida gave her a blank look and gulped. "Uh… is it Heiwajima Shizuo?"

"No," she shook her head with a small chuckle. Kida laughed along. "But it's someone just as strong."

Kida laughter ceased immediately. Someone just as strong as Heiwajima Shizuo… in terms of strength the only other possible choice would be Simon, but she couldn't have been talking about him. The only other strong person left… it couldn't be, not him.

"What's he like?"

Rei saw a sudden change in Kida's attitude. He waited for her response, eyes cold and distant. She shrugged with a small smile.

"He likes to mess with your head, speaks a load of nice things," Rei crossed her arms. "You know, he was the first person I've actually grown to like."

"What happened?"

"He said some things about my dead mother," Rei replied. "And then I punched him in the face… my hand still hurts."

"Seriously?" Kida watched Rei wave her hand in front of her face. "Can you tell me his name?"

"Orihara Izaya," she stretched her fingers out. "I doubt you know him though, and if you do then you must be really unlucky."

"I've never heard of him," Kida said.

"Thought so," she smiled. "Don't worry about it, I don't want him dead anyway."

"Yeah? And why not?" Kida asked. "It sounds like this guy really did a number on you."

"Well what fun would it be if he's dead?" Rei made a face. "And plus if I did want him dead, I'd go kill him myself."

* * *

><p>Izaya sneezed as his fingers lingered across the keyboard. He had received a rather alarming email last night from Nakata Daichi. The email didn't reveal an awful lot, just that Daichi would like to meet with him to talk about his daughter. Though through that alone, Izaya knew a storm was coming. He hadn't replied yet, in fact, he's been trying to ignore the email altogether until he gathers more information on the man. What stupid man walks into a storm blindly? Certainly not Izaya.<p>

He has bigger problems on hands at the moment anyway. Last night when he was trying to get to sleep, a sudden realization came to him. Rei has seen the head hidden in his bookshelf. Back then she had promised not to say a word, but now circumstances has changed. With their relationship on shaky grounds, Rei could tell whomever she pleases. Worst comes to worst, she tells Celty and an angry dullahan will be after both her head and his.

The plan was to be taken to Valhalla by the dullahan, not get killed by her.

Secretly he was hoping that Rei has a soft spot for him somewhere in her heart and would keep the quiet about it, or perhaps she'll make it difficult for him. Would she even accept his apology if he said he was sorry? Knowing Rei, you could never be too sure. After all, like she had said, she is crazy.

Looks like he'll have to be paying her a visit in Ikebukuro sometime soon. Not today though. He's going to need the whole day to read through all the information he's gathered on Nakata Daichi, and there were heaps of it to be looked through. The man's accomplishments seem to be never ending. Probably not a good thing for Izaya considering the guy might want trouble with him.

A knock came from his front door. Standing up quickly, Izaya walked over and opened the door. Behind stood none other than his new assistant, Yagiri Namie. She greeted him with a flat 'good morning' and stepped in.

"You can start by sorting through that shelf over there," Izaya pointed across the room. "And make me a cup of tea, would you Namie-san?"

Namie said nothing and got to work, she headed into the kitchen and prepared the tea. When she returned with the tea, Izaya stopped typing and looked up.

"How much did you sell for?" he picked up the cup and saucer.

"I asked for two billion," she said.

"And?"

"He laughed in my face and offered me one billion," she sounded defensive. "… And I agreed."

"Really?" Izaya chuckled. "Nakata Daichi… he's a frightening man isn't he?"

"That old man got me good," Namie sighed. "Now here I am, working for the likes of you."

"You should feel lucky that I was in need of some help around here," he turned back to his monitor.

"What happened to the other girl that was here?" she asked.

"It didn't work out," she noticed him twitch slightly.

"Wasn't she Nakata Daichi's missing daughter?" Namie looked over at his Go board.

"Was she?" Izaya looked up dully. "Huh, I had no idea."

"Liar," Namie rolled her eyes and reached for the saucer. "Done?"

"Yes, thank you."

* * *

><p>After school, Rei headed into the city to look for interesting things to do, or people to bother, anything really, it's been a long time since she's just wandered around.<p>

Since getting back, Souichi has been watching her like a hawk. Always asking questions whenever she so much as stepped out of her room. Her father on the other hand, has only spoken a few words to her since she returned home.

"_We were worried, don't do it again."_

"_I have successfully bought out a local company, so we can expand into Japan in no time."_

"_Rei, no more excuses. You will go to school again."_

If he had really cared then he would be acting more like Souichi. Rei rolled her eyes as she continued to stroll down the pavement whilst looking around. There had to be something interesting going on somewhere, this _is _Ikebukuro after all. The whole city practically screams 'trouble'. A loud crash averted her attention towards a vending machine that was sent flying in mid-air, done no doubt by Ikebukuro's strongest.

'_Of coarse, there's always him.'_

Rei smiled as she hurried along down the street, desperate to get close to the action. This all felt very nostalgic, there was only one person missing in this picture.

The scene looked as if it were from a movie. Shizuo towered over a cowering man backing up against a wall. The vending machine landed a few feet away from the two as Shizuo ripped a lamppost off the ground.

"P-please don't hurt me! I'm sorry! I'll pay back! I'll pay back!" the man whimpered.

"That's more like it," Shizuo tossed the bent lamppost aside. "If you don't then I'll have to come after you again."

"I promise!" the man pleaded.

"Go on then," Shizuo pulled out his box of cigarettes.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

The man bowed before running away. Shizuo sighed and lit his cigarette. It's a lot more difficult without his boss here to do the speaking, people tend to run and scream after just seeing his face.

"Hi!"

Shizuo turned as he blew out a breath of smoke. It was Rei, she was grinning up at him like he was her favorite person in the world. This was a surprise. He hadn't seen her around Ikebukuro in the last few weeks, neither has he seen Izaya, not since they disappeared together that night.

"It's you," he looked away. "What do you want?"

"Can you teach me how to do that?" she pointed at the discarded lamppost.

"What?" Shizuo made a face. "Why would you want to learn how to do that?"

"It's cool," she shrugged. "Please?"

"No," he shook his head. "It's dangerous. And plus, wouldn't it be strange for a girl to be so strong?"

"… No," she replied after giving it some thought.

"Whatever," he turned with a small wave. "Go back to Izaya or something."

"I would if I was on speaking terms with him," Rei followed after him.

"You're not speaking?" Shizuo turned to look at her. She shook her head. "Why not?"

"He said something mean," she replied. "I punched him."

"Seriously? I've never managed to hit him once."

"See, that's why you should teach me," Rei grinned. "Then the next time I see him I can whack him over the head."

"I can't just teach it to you," Shizuo sighed. "It just… sort of has to happen on it's own."

"How did it happen for you?" she asked.

"I got a mad over something really stupid," he shrugged. "I don't really know."

"You're weird," she droned.

"You're the one to speak," he shot back. "Why are you following me anyway?"

"Why not?" Rei yawned. "Fun things happen to you all the time right Shizuo-san?"

"I don't know if I'd call them fun," he frowned slightly.

"… You're a weird guy," she repeated.

"You said that already," he grumbled.

"But that's good," she grinned. "Because weird people are the only people I like."

"Right…" Shizuo nodded.

The two of them walked together in silence for the next few minutes. People would automatically jump out of the way when they saw Shizuo coming down the street. Rei liked it. Though the people weren't moving out of the way in fear of her, it still felt kind of cool.

A large crowd was gathered around something up ahead.

"What do you think's happening?" she asked.

"Who knows," Shizuo shrugged back.

Rei bobbed over towards the crowd and tiptoed past the many heads, but it was to no avail. Once again, Rei's height has proven to be no help at all. A tall shadow towered her and she turned back to see Shizuo staring at her.

"What's happening? Can you see?" looked up at him.

"It's just some people playing music," he replied. "It's not that special."

"Oh… really?" she sighed. "And here I was thinking someone got murdered or whatever…"

Shizuo gave her a look and shook his head while exhaling a breath of smoke. Despite her looks, this girl really was something else. The things she says could either be considered as genius or pure crazy, but the problem was she speaks both smart things and strange things.

The music stopped playing and the idol thanked the crowd. Shizuo immediately noticed Rei turn her attention back to the crowd. She began to frown as she continued to listen to the idol.

"Shizuo-san?"

"Hm?"

"Would this person performing happen to be a girl with brown hair and in an ugly pink skirt?" she asked through her gritted teeth.

"I'm not sure about the skirt… it is pink though, and yeah she has brown hair," Shizuo glanced over the crowd. "Why? Do you know her?"

"Thank you everyone! My name is Yuki Ono and I'm an aspiring idol!"

Rei clenched her fists.

"Oh yeah, I know her."

Shizuo watched her push into the crowds and disappear in the group of people. Even with a head of curly golden locks, it was impossible to spot her with her height.

'_Whatever, she probably just wants to say hello to her friend.'_

Shizuo decided to leave as Rei had already left him. But before he can even take a step, a sharp scream came from the front of the crowd. Across the sea of heads, he saw the idol sprawled across the ground and Rei standing over her with a bloody fist. Her blazer and leather backpack discarded on the side.

"Remember me?" Rei snarled.

"Y-you… what are you doing here? Didn't they put you in a mental ward after what you did?" Yuki had her hand placed over her bloody nose.

"Wouldn't you like that?" Rei smirked. "Say, Yuki. Why don't you be a sport and put away your hand so I can break that little nose of yours?"

"Back off you psychotic bitch!" Yuki inched back. "Guys! Do something!"

Two of the band members began to circle around Rei, but the younger girl did not move an inch from where she stood. The crowds seem to love the fight even more than they enjoyed the performance. They cheered as Rei successfully punched one guy in the gut and when she kicked another in the shin, and they went wild as Rei grabbed a handful of the quivering idol's hair and pulled her up to her eyelevel. Pulling her fist back, she aimed directly for that pointed nose of hers.

"That's enough, Rei," Shizuo called.

The people in the crowd slowly began to recognize the voice and began to disperse for the infamous Heiwajima Shizuo. Rei glanced over at Shizuo then back to Yuki, the girl was practically sobbing under Rei's fist. Rei clenched her jaw tight as her sweaty fingers kneaded into her palm.

Without thinking, Rei bashed her knuckle into Yuki's face. A satisfying crack notified Rei that she had successfully broken the nose of Yuki Ono. She let go of the brunette's hair and watched her drop onto the ground with an unsettling smile.

"Arrggh!"

Rei turned around and saw one the boys charging at her, his face erratic and fist at the ready. Rei squeezed her eyes shut and placed her fingers over them, barring the image of the boy out of her head. It wasn't that she was afraid, but if were to be hit she'd prefer not to punched in the eye. She'd seen someone get their eye pulled out in a film, and she wasn't so keen on being blind.

The hit never came.

Curiously, she lowered her ring and pinky finger and made a gap between her fingers to look through. The boy was dangling in midair with his arms flailing all over the place, Shizuo held the boy as far away as possible to avoid being whacked in the face.

"Hey kid, it's not cool to hit a girl," Shizuo frowned.

"H-Heiwajima Shizuo?" the boy stuttered. "P-please let me go. I didn't know you were friends with her."

This was all too familiar to Shizuo. Using as little strength as he can, he tossed the whimpering boy aside and walked over to retrieve Rei's bag and blazer. He grabbed a hold onto her things and walked over to the girl.

"Let's go," he grunted.

Rei received her things with a large grin on her face. She put her bag on and followed Shizuo through the parted crowd. Shizuo scratched the back of his head as he took a whiff of his cigarette. For doing something like this, Rei probably had a good reason… or maybe not. But that aside, she sure is tough. You wouldn't think it looking at Rei, her short thin figure didn't exactly depict 'fighter'.

**XoXo**

The two soon found themselves sat next to a fountain in the park after whining that she needed to sit down. Shizuo sighed as he watched Rei dip her hand in the water and trying to rub the smudged blood off on her blazer.

"Are you sure you should be wiping it off on your uniform?" Shizuo asked. "Wouldn't your mum get mad?"

"No, she won't be mad," Rei shook her head.

After her hands were rid of the blood, she turned between them and reached into her bag. She pulled out a pack of tissues and proceeded to wipe the water off her hand. Shizuo stared at her with a questioning look. Once again this begged him to ask himself, is she a genius or just plain crazy?

"If you say so," Shizuo sighed as he reached for his cigarettes.

"Are those good?"

"What?" he glanced at her.

"Smoking," she said. "It looks really cool."

"Uh… not really," he looked down at his lit stick. "It just calms me down."

"Can I try one?" she reached for his box.

"Absolutely not," he snatched it away just in time.

"Why not?" she shuffled over to reach closer.

"Aren't you underage?" he held if further away from her.

"So?" she pouted. "Just let me try one!"

Shizuo held the box as far away from Rei as he can with one hand, and the other hand he held onto Rei's head to keep her still. Shizuo felt like punching someone, just how did he get himself in this situation?

"You won't like it," he insisted. "Stop it, Rei!"

"How do you know?" she pushed further. "For all you know I might like-."

The two of them froze and turned towards the fountain warily. Sunk to the bottom of the pool was Rei's bag. Rei immediately backed off and shuffled back to where she sat before.

"It's your fault," Rei crossed her arms and looked away. "Make it up to me."

"What? That was your fault!" Shizuo stood up. "Stop blaming others for-."

"My phone was in there, it's probably fried too," she looked up at him. "Make it up to me."

"… What do you want?" Shizuo groaned.

Rei immediately unfolded her arms and grinned. She lifted a finger up and pointed at the pack of cigarettes still in his hand. This girl sure was determined.

"Seriously?" he sighed, sitting back down.

Shizuo tossed her the packet when she nodded. Rei opened the box excitedly like a child would on Christmas morning. She thought back to the conversation she had with Izaya as she pulled out a thin stick.

"_How cool would it be to smoke?"_

"_You wouldn't want that."_

As much as she hated to admit it, she was probably doing this just to prove him wrong. Since when did she care about what others thought of her?

"Here, you can light it yourself right?" he passed her his lighter.

Rei stuck the stick in her mouth, the end between her lips tasted strange, but that wasn't going to stop her. She lit the tip and took a deep breath in, just like the way she's seen Shizuo do it.

She regretted it right away.

The cigarette dropped from her mouth and she began to cough frantically. Shizuo sighed and patted her back.

'_Maybe Izaya's right about some things…'_

After a minute and a bit, Rei stopped coughing. Her eyes were watery and cheeks looked red, for a moment there Shizuo thought she was going to cry. Instead she fished her bag out of the fountain and pulled on the wet straps over her shoulders.

"God! That was disgusting," she scrunched her face together. "Why in the world would anyone willingly smoke? It seems more like a torture device than something people would do recreationally."

"I warned you already…" he shrugged. "You should listen to your elders sometimes, you know?"

"Just how old are you?" she asked.

"Older than you, therefore you should listen," he replied sternly.

"You sound like my brother," she rubbed the back of her head. "I already have one, I don't want another."

"Who ever said I was going to be your brother?" he scowled.

"Why not?" she made a face.

"… Just go home, Rei."

"Whatever!" she exclaimed. "See you around, Shizuo-san!"

Rei picked up her blazer and headed out the park. Right before leaving, something came to her. She ran back to the fountain with a grin.

"Hey, Shizuo-san, guess what?" she panted.

"What?" he looked up.

"You and Izaya actually agreed on something!" she grinned.

"What?" Shizuo demanded, slightly louder this time.

"Remember when you said I wouldn't like smoking?" she asked, and he nodded back. "Well Izaya said the same thing when I asked him about it. Okay, bye!"

Shizuo watched Rei run off, ignoring every voice in his head that was telling him to kill someone. Damn her. Up to the very last moment, she found some way to bother him. He rested his elbow on he thigh and leaned down, placing his forehead onto his palm. Through the tint of his sunglasses, he noticed a small shimmer on the ground. On closer look it was Rei's cigarette. The stick was still lit brightly even after being abandoned. Shizuo can't help but find the lone cigarette burning on the ground to be a little saddening.

Shizuo sighed and stomped onto the cigarette. There was no point in carrying on lighting now.

'_She's not coming back for you.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Did some weird symbolism stuff in the last few paragraphs (can't believe I'm actually referring back to things I learned in class :P). Har har, claps to those who can figure out what it meant xD <strong>

**I'm trying to aim for longer chapters now, so forgive me if I'm slow :P **

**This story just got 11k hits. That's really amazing guys! I love all my readers! Thank you so much! It's stuff like this that really brightens my day :')**

**Once again thanks to all who alerted and favorited.**

**Review replies:**

ILoveReadingAndWriting – Mari-chan! What you wrote was so beautiful! Seriously, I'm so flattered you think of my story like that! Yeah Rei's family's a little complicated. Her dad's not a good parent at all, and he'll get what's coming for him. Souichi tries his best, but you know… it takes quite a lot to impress Rei :P Thank you so much for your review! I'm looking forward to hearing from you again! :)

Alexandria Volturi – I gotta admit, writing Izaya is difficult. I'm doing my best to imagine how he would react to things. Yeah… but those two will definitely get together and have a happy ending in time :D

easily1994addicted – I'm glad you came back and that you like my story :D I've been planning it for a while but just didn't know when was the right point for her to leave :P I'm happy you like it! :D

SilverDragon13 – Thank you! :)

animelover1990 – I'm glad you like my writing! Thank you! :) Aww, I'll do my best and I hope your other fics will start updating again! :)

CrazyBitch – You were originally Guest, but you said I can call you that right? xD Thank you so much! I'm so happy you like it!

Ageha Sakura – Thank you Ageha-san! :D I'm really flattered that you'd think that way about my writing! Really! I loved your review! :)

i88  - I've been finding it hard to write Izaya but I'm happy that you think he's staying in character :D I'm glad you like Rei! Thank you!

Orihara Rin – Because of your handle, I'm gonna tell you something weird. Before uploading this story I was stuck between three names – Ren, Rin and Rei. I just thought it'd be pretty funny if I decided to use Rin instead of Rei xD And thank you for your review! I'm so happy you like it! :)

exaigon – Izaya's going to have it pretty tough the next few chapters but it'll all be better once him and Rei make up :) Thanks for the review!

SherlockianOtaku – Aww. Nightly, really? Thank you! I feel really flattered and sorry that I made you wait so long! I hope you enjoyed this long-awaited chapter! :D

Kana – I have big plans for this story but it's gonna take a while to get there :P Thank you! I'm really glad you like it! :) And I have this terrible habit of skimming through my work after writing it, so I never spot the small mistakes… but I'm gonna try my best to avoid typos and misspellings! :D

**Can I just say a big thank you to all my reviewers? You don't know how much I'm grinning right now. I love you all, you really help motivate me to write this fic! :)**


	17. Moonlit Reunion

**Durarara!**

_**Cockamamie**_

_**Chapter Seventeen: Moonlit Reunion**_

* * *

><p>After a week of texting and calling to no avail, Izaya decided to go for Plan B – the more direct approach. Though he hadn't considered the direct approach to be so time-consuming. It was already an hour after school ended and he has yet to see Rei. According to some students earlier, Rei was present today and should be coming out any moment.<p>

All this waiting just made Izaya even more anxious. Not only did he need to speak with her about Celty's head but he was also hoping to ask more about Nakata Daichi… well after he's apologized first.

A while later, someone exited the building, but it wasn't who he was waiting for. Though he was just as familiar. Kida Masaomi frowned when he saw who was waiting by the school gates, and he also had a pretty good idea why he was here. Kida tucked his hands in his pockets as he stopped in front of Izaya.

"What do you want?" he said blankly.

"I'm waiting for someone," Izaya replied.

"Rei-chan, right?" Kida asked bluntly.

"Yes, has she told you about me?" Izaya tilted his head to one side.

"She said she hated you, can't say I blame her though," Kida recalled. "She also said anyone who knew you must be unlucky."

"I've heard worst," Izaya shrugged. "Is she coming out soon?"

"What do you want with her?" Kida demanded. "She's my classmate you know, and if she gets hurt then I'll-."

"What? Are you trying to make sure Rei-chan doesn't meet the same fate as your little girlfriend?" Izaya snapped distastefully. "Is this just some futile attempt in redeeming yourself?"

"Shut up," Kida spat. "Don't bring Saki into this. Rei is my friend and you will stay away from her."

"Or what?" Izaya rolled his eyes. "You're really in no position to threaten me, Masaomi-kun. You're practically powerless without your gang of-."

Izaya stopped talking as he looked over Kida's shoulder. He turned around and saw Rei leaving the building. Rei fiddled with her backpack as she left the building, and only as she got close to the gates were the straps put on properly. She turned up and saw a most peculiar scene.

"What's going on?" she turned to Kida.

"Nothing," he shook his head. "Orihara-san was just about to leave."

"Oh… is that so, Orihara-san?" Rei looked to Izaya.

She was mocking him.

Izaya didn't like the tone she used, nor did he like the fact she's acting as if they were strangers.

"I needed to speak with you," Izaya said. "I've tried calling but you didn't pick up."

"My phone met a watery grave," she shrugged. "I'll be going then if that's it."

Rei pushed past Izaya and walked down the street without looking back.

"Wait-."

"Leave her alone," Kida grabbed the man's arm. "She obviously doesn't want to talk to you."

Kida let go of Izaya's arm and headed after Rei. It doesn't look like he'll be able to speak to Rei so easily, not with Kida with her anyway. He hadn't even known Rei was friends with the ex-leader of the infamous Yellow Scarves.

If both Plan A and B have failed, then he'll have to come up with a new plan – Plan C.

Not only does she not have a phone now, but also Kida seems to be determined to keep them apart. Izaya doesn't dare follow Rei back to her house, the last thing he wanted was to meet Nakata Daichi. The only other way was to send her a message… somehow.

Izaya pulled aside a girl as she was leaving the school grounds. The girl gave him a stern glare as she raised her eyebrows in question.

"Hi, I need you to do something for me. I can pay."

"What the hell?" she crossed her arms. "What kind of girl do you think I am?"

"What kind of guy do you think I am?" Izaya shot back. "As if I'd be interested in you."

"Did you come up to me just to insult me?" she said. "I'm leaving!"

"Wait! I need you to bring a message to one of your schoolmates," Izaya called. "I'll pay you 1000 yen."

"Who's is it?"

"Nakata Rei," Izaya replied. "Tell her to meet-."

"Nakata Rei?" she grimaced. "As in Crazy Rei? No, thank you. Go find someone else."

She rushed off before Izaya can say another word.

There goes Plan C…

Izaya was starting to get restless. Just why was it so difficult to speak to Rei? Why was nothing working for him? It seems like he won't be able to get to her through any conventional means. If that's really so, then he'll have to go all out for his next plan… Plan D.

Phones won't reach her, a bodyguard in his way, and people won't cooperate.

'_All out…'_

**XoXo**

When Rei arrived home, she found Souichi in a heated argument with her father. Things weren't looking well with her brother's fists clenched and her father glaring from behind his laptop.

Rei took one look at the situation at hand, and made a straight turn back around.

"Wait just a second, young lady!" Daichi called. "Come back in here."

He's barely spoken to her the whole time she was back, and now he's mad at her about something?

'_What gives?'_

"Yes?"

Rei looked over her shoulder.

"Come in and sit down."

With a small frown, Rei walked into the room, plopped her discoloured backpack onto the ground and sat down on one of the many sofas. By the way things looked, it's as if her brother could strangle her if she made one wrong move.

Rei was incredibly uncomfortable.

"Was it true that you were with a man named Orihara Izaya?" Daichi asked his daughter. "Tell me the truth, Rei."

"No."

"I told you!" Souchi glared over at Daichi. "I've spoken to him personally. He's been helping with the search."

"… Is that it?" Rei looked up. "Can I go?"

"No," Daichi shook his head. "Don't lie to me, Rei. The least you can do is tell me where you were. I just want to know if you were safe."

"I wasn't with Orihara Izaya, okay?" she growled. "What makes you think I was anyway?"

"Only Orihara Izaya is capable of finding the information about your mother," Daichi crossed his arms. "I need to know if he did indeed find out for you."

"If you doubt me so much why don't you just clarify it with him yourself?" she stood up.

"I've tried, but he hasn't replied," Daichi looked back to his monitor. "Almost as if he's avoiding me."

"Technology fails sometimes," she shrugged. "I'm going upstairs."

Words wouldn't describe how mad Rei felt. Instead of speaking to her about her mother, he goes on and speaks about Izaya. Does he really care so little about what has happened? What has happened because of him?

Rei had no plans of leaving anytime soon, but it was because of living with people like her father that made her want to leave to begin with.

Flipping her new laptop open, she clicked open her only bookmark. Typing the password, she logged into the Dollars website. It's been some time the last she came on. Forums about her have stopped popping up so there really wasn't much to do.

Deciding chatting was better than nothing, she opened up a chat room and set up using the name 'Ren'.

_**[Welcome, Ren-san]**_

_**[Hello!]**_

_**[Welcome!]**_

Wow, these people are friendly. Their little icons also looked familiar. There must have been somewhere she recognized them from.

_**[Hi]**_

_**[Are you new here?]**_

_**[Yeah, sort of]**_

_**[Were you at that large gathering two weeks ago?]**_

_**[Yeah, it was fun]**_

_**[We were just saying maybe we could do something like that again]**_

_**[Exactly, it was a lot of fun. It was great to see other members]**_

Rei tapped her index finger as she watched the words flicker on and off her screen. Why must things be boring for her even when she makes an effort? She had little to no interest in meeting up with these people, in fact, the thought of that greatly bothers her.

_**[I gotta go]**_

_**[Oh! Bye Ren-san]**_

_**-Kanra has entered the chat-**_

A little bright orange box appeared on screen.

_**[Good evening~]**_

This was all too familiar to her. She had definitely seen that orange avatar somewhere before. Then it hit her. It was from that night she was with Izaya, he had the very same chat room open on his computer.

_**[Good evening Kanra-san!]**_

_**[Hello!]**_

Kanra was no doubt Izaya. This she was almost certain. Before she could close the chat, another window opened up.

_**[Is that you, Rei-chan?]**_

Okay, now she was on hundred percent certain. Her fingers lingered over the keys as she thought this through. Did she really want to speak to Izaya? After what happened earlier today? He did say he's been trying to contact her… but that doesn't make up for what he's said before. That doesn't even begin to make up for what he's said.

**XoXo**

It was painful waiting for a reply. Izaya wasn't even sure if Ren was really Rei, but he went with his gut instinct. The clock ticked by slowly, this caused Izaya to squirm slightly in his seat.

"What's wrong with your face?"

Izaya looked up and saw Namie staring at her from across the room. She was obviously amused by his expression but said nothing to imply it.

"Stomachache," he lied, looking back down to the screen.

_**-Ren has left the chat-**_

Well that's just brilliant.

If that were really just Rei, then he has missed his chance to speak with her. Why on earth were things so difficult for him? Why was he so determined for one girl? What Rei thinks of him should mean nothing to him. Nothing like this has ever bothered him before.

"Medicine."

Namie placed a bottle down on the table along with a glass of water.

"Your face is terrifying," Namie crossed her arms. "Do people usually turn that shade of red when they have a stomachache?"

"Thank you, Namie-san," Izaya shooed. "You can leave now."

With a tight frown, Namie picked up the things placed down and turned back to the stairs. If Izaya was going to be stingy about things, then she couldn't care less.

Izaya had spent the whole afternoon and majority of the evening working on his Plan D. With a single phone call, he was able to find out information regarding Raira's new school schedules and recruitment placements.

If everything goes according to plan, he should be able to slip in, give Rei a note, and leave without trouble – and with a valid excuse if he needed one. Which he desperately hopes he didn't need, the last thing he needed was to have Kida know of his presence at school.

* * *

><p>The plan was going well so far, the paper note was safely placed in Rei's shoe cabinet and if she does respond accordingly then he should be able to speak with her later tonight.<p>

It's been a long time the since Izaya was at Raira. The last time he was here was probably his very own graduation ceremony… and after such a commotion he and Shizuo made, the school never contacted them again. Being back here was indeed nostalgic even with all the new renovations the school has made.

Izaya wandered along the corridors, humming a little tune with his hand tucked inside his pockets. It seems that lunch has just ended and lessons were commencing. There were a few tardy students here and there but no one worthwhile has shown up yet… until now.

"Eh? Orihara-san?"

"Hm?"

Looking back over his shoulder, he found Ryugamine Mikado staring back at him oddly. Mikado had a hoard of baseball bats in hand and looked to be struggling with them.

"Ah! If it isn't Ryugamine-kun," Izaya greeted. "Long time no see!"

"U-Uh yes…" he nodded back brashly. "W-what are you doing here, Orihara-san?"

"Visiting," Izaya shrugged. "What about you? PE?"

"Yeah, I've got PE right now…" Mikado brushed past him. "Sorry but I've got to get these downstairs…"

Without another word from him, Mikado rushed down the stairs. Izaya walked over to a window and looked through. Just as he thought, the first years were all gathered on the field. Looking towards the girls' side, he searched for the blonde girl.

Rei stuck out like a sore thumb in the crowd. Perhaps it was her striking bright hair, or maybe it was the big gap people kept a distance at. Either way, spotting Nakata Rei from her classmates was an easy feat.

Once Mikado arrived with the bats, the co-ed game of baseball can start. It was a balanced mix between girls and boys teams. It was a typical high school game from what Izaya could see.

When Rei was up to bat, the crowds grew silent. The pitcher threw the lightest ball he could, and Rei hit it with little to no effort. The ball flew high the air, but no one ran for it. Everyone stayed in their places as they watched the ball land right next to a fielder. The ball rolled right to the fielder's toes but still then, he wouldn't touch it.

It was almost cruel the way they treated her, but she didn't seem too bothered about it as she dropped the bat and walked around the bases.

The only person that looked to be properly happy with her performance was Kida Masaomi. As Rei got back in the stands, Kida approached her and began to grin and speak to her. Izaya wasn't too touchy with Kida's fondness of Rei. Sure, it was a little annoying… especially after he pretty much yelled at Izaya.

He gave them one last look and tore his attention away from the window and marched down the hall. His job here was done, and he should just leave before he gets caught up in some mess.

"Excuse me? Yoshida-san?"

Izaya looked back and saw a person who he presumed to be a teaching staff here at the school.

"Yes?" Izaya decided he'd take up the role of this 'Yoshida' for the moment. "I apologize but I got a little lost."

"That's no problem at all, Yoshida-san," the lady smiled back. "I'm Nishimoto Tae, a teacher here at Raira. Your class is waiting for you, if you'll come with me."

It seems that whomever Yoshida may be, he was someone that's supposed to be filling in a class as a substitute while the homeroom teacher was away on some business.

The lady Izaya was following noted his strange attire but laughed it off, saying that it was 'cute'. She proceeded to ask him various questions regarding his work, family and friends. It was a tedious experience for Izaya. The woman was shallow and so blatant with her advances.

"Are you married, Yoshida-san?" Nishimoto asked. "I can't imagine a handsome man like you unmarried."

"I'm not."

"Really?" she practically gaped. "Would you have any interest in going out with me this weekend? I hear there's a nice movie that's playing on Saturday."

"I'm not married, but there's someone I'm seeing at the moment," he told her.

"A girlfriend?"

"Not exactly," Izaya subconsciously told her all this. "And we're not speaking at the moment."

"… What's she like?"

"… Special," he said. "And really blonde."

"Uh…" Nishimoto looked back down at her brown locks. "Well maybe this break as an opportunity for you to go out and meet new people!"

"You think so?"

"Yes!" she stopped in front of a door. "So will you call me?"

"Alright," he nodded.

It wasn't as if the real Yoshida was here to object.

She smiled back then turned to open the door. As she addressed the class, Izaya took a peek in the class and frowned at the lack of interesting faces. What he didn't notice was almost every single female student's eyes sparkled at the sight of the young and handsome substitute teacher.

"Everyone please welcome Yoshida-sensei."

**XoXo**

PE classes were the worst for Rei. She had zero tolerance for it and not to mention people always let her win, no matter what sport they were playing. It was almost taxing enough having to go to school with these people, but it was even more infuriating when they get too scared to even make it difficult for her.

Dumping her gym bag onto the floor, she kicked her indoor shoes off as she slammed her shoe cabinet open. Rei swapped the shoes around and stepped into her leather shoes. Just as she was about to close the cabinet she noticed a piece of folded paper in the corner of the box.

"_Did you see that new substitute teacher?"_

"_Oh, you mean Yoshida-sensei?"_

"_Yeah! Wasn't he good looking?"_

"_I thought he was a little weird though."_

"_Good looks are good looks!"_

It was three senior girls talking amongst themselves as they left. They carried on speaking of the amazing lesson they had with their substitute teacher with much excitement. Once they were out of the way, Rei picked up the note and unfolded the creases.

_[Meet me tonight at seven, on the roof of this building – Izaya]_

Under that line of words was an incredibly badly hand drawn map with a large red 'X' over a building. The drawing looked to be traced from something, but the lines were wobbly and uneven. If the map weren't labeled she probably wouldn't have understood where she was supposed to go.

The building that she was supposed to meet him at was supposed to be abandoned in a more quiet part of the city. It seems almost shady the way he was inviting her, and to such a place especially. If it had been any other girl that received this note, they'd probably tear it up without a seconds thought, but Rei wasn't one to fright over such crude invites.

**XoXo**

The building was a lot more difficult to locate then she imagined at first. Especially with the help of the map she received, or lack thereof more like. Finally stumbling onto the roof of the designated building, she glanced around in search for Izaya.

The moonlight illuminated the roof well, and she easily spotted a figure huddled up on the roof of the staircase hatch.

"Your map was really pathetically drawn," she called. "I was wandering around this area for close to an hour looking for this building. You also do realize there's a scary slasher running about at night, don't you?"

He nodded lightly.

"I don't fancy getting cut up just because you've asked me to come out."

"I'll never put you in harm's way."

"…" Rei sighed as she looked down to her feet. "So what have you called me all the way out here for?"

"Come on up here, Rei-chan," Izaya called. "There's something you'll want to see."

"No," she said. "I'm fine where I am."

As much as she disliked Izaya at the moment, she was awful curious to what he wanted to show her.

"Have I ever lied to you about something like this before?"

"Well no…"

"So come on up here," he insisted.

Her curiosity getting the best of her, Rei walked towards the ladder and climbed onto the platform where Izaya sat. As she sat down next to him, she felt a slight prick under her palm but she paid it no mind; she didn't want to cause a fuss in front of Izaya at the moment.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"Firstly, I'll tell you more about this building," he said. "The building has been abandoned around two years ago, and since then it's been quite a popular site for suicide jumpers."

"Fascinating," she grumbled, her hand twitching slightly from the pain her palm. "And?"

"There's been four jumpers in the last six months," he noted. "And Rio Kamichika would have been the fifth."

"… Rio?"

"Sound familiar?"

"Too familiar," she recalled the girl. "Why didn't she die?"

"There was an interference," he shrugged. "From our favorite headless rider."

"Really?" Rei's tone lightened considerably. He nodded back reply. "Just how is it you know so much?"

"Isn't it only natural to take an interest in things you love?"

"I guess," she sighed. "Is that it?"

"Wait, don't go yet," he raised his voice slightly. "I wanted to apologize about what I've said. About your mother."

"Hm."

"I grew up with a normal bunch of folks, so I never knew what it was like to feel truly alone," he told her. "So, I'm sorry."

"… You're really apologizing to me?" she grinned. "That's unlike you. Since when did you care about what others thought of you?"

"Just very recently actually," he sighed. "And it's really giving me a bother."

"Yeah?" she chuckled. "If it helps, I've been feeling something similar… Do you think this is what they call love?"

It was incredible how one little word can agitate him so. He turned to her and saw her staring back at her with lips curved into a damning smile.

"Perhaps…" Izaya sighed.

"Hm…" she thought hard. "I don't know if I love you though…"

Once again, just one thing she says made him feel like his world's come crashing down on him. When did his world start revolving around this blonde goddess of his? Rei was probably right about their relationship, perhaps it really is love – on his part anyway.

Rei kicked her legs back and forth through the air as she hummed a quiet tune. She seemed to be still in thought, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking. It was as if she could jump at him any second.

Izaya almost flinched when her left leg froze midair; she turned her attention to her right hand and pulled it off the concrete. She examined the wavy ridges left on her palm then onto the carvings on the solid rooftop. They were the very same carvings Izaya made to tally up his experiments, and it looks by Rei's face that she's realized too.

"… I don't know if I love you," she spoke again. "But I like you too much to say that I don't love you."

Hearing such words from her almost put Izaya at ease. But with this new commitment, there'll be newfound problems.

"Does it not seem strange to you that you'll be with an older man?"

"No?" she eyed him. "It'd make no difference if I were twenty and you were thirty. People generally aren't very smart when it comes to these types of things. What's socially acceptable or unacceptable are just opinions of our dimwitted society; they don't matter to me."

The words she was saying were like music to his ears. Sometimes, on occasions like these, Rei seriously sounded like the most intelligent person in the world.

"I didn't think you'd ask something like that. I would think that these things also didn't matter to you."

"They don't matter," he agreed. "I'm just worried how you'd be treated by your family and friends."

"What friends? What family?" she scoffed. "Izaya-kun, I live for no one but myself. I'm not here to impress anyone."

"… Rei-chan, has anyone ever told you how amazing you are?" he smiled. "If not, then let me be the first to say it – you are amazing."

"Huh, really?" she tilted her head sideways. "How so?"

"Always, Rei," he said with a small shake of his head. "You always exceed my calculations. You're so different from every other human. I never know what to expect from you next. It's just unbelievable, meeting someone like you."

"… Hm," she nodded with a sly grin. "You sound almost infatuated. Are you? Infatuated with me?"

"I think I'd be lying if I said no," he looked to his lap. "... I mean- you interest me."

"… Close your eyes."

"Why?" he grew defensive. "The last time I did that you shove me off into a pool of water. I don't want to take my chances on a rooftop."

"Just do it!" she huffed. "This is my first time, okay? I'm really nervous about this."

"About what?" he was still unconvinced.

"Kiss!" she exclaimed. "A kiss!"

Izaya might as well have pushed himself off the rooftop by the way he fumbled after hearing those words. He turned to her and saw that she was waiting for him to do as he was told.

Once his eyes were closed, Rei huddled closer and stared at his face. She hadn't a clue what she was supposed to do. Sure, she's seen other people do it, but now that she's on her own faced in her own predicament…

"…"

Izaya must have been closing his eyes for at least half a minute now, and Rei hasn't done a single thing. Perhaps, she's just messing with him. It was plausible; she's not one to stick to anything she's said. The moment he was about to protest, he felt a pair of soft lips pursed on his right cheek.

"Oh my god!" he heard her yell as soon as she pulled away. "Hey! That wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be!"

Opening an eye, Izaya let out a sigh.

'_I guess I was expecting too much this time…'_

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, it's been far too long since I last updated and I'm sorry for that! But I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!<strong>

**Thanks to those that favorited and alerted this story! :)**

**Reviews:**

i88, Alexandria Volturi, SilverDragon13, Chocoholics Unite, OneHellOvaWriter, ILAUGHATYOUALL, animelover1990, Amara-nii chan, indescribable music, Ume Kanda, xxMZ Vampy Chickxx & ALL THE GUESTS - Oh guys, I'm so tired and there's just waay too many of you to reply individually. Forgive me! But I loved every single one of your reviews! I particularly liked all the guest reviews I got asking me to update xD Anyways, I'm so glad you're all enjoying my story, and I really do appreciate it when you leave me reviews and I'm sorry I'm taking such a long time :P Thank you all again! :D


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